An Unwelcome Guest
by s11235
Summary: Arthur needs somewhere to stay and has to turn to Gwen who is less than impressed by her new houseguest- Modern AU of series 2 ep 2.
1. Chapter 1

_Author's note: this is my first modern AU and I think it will probably be about 6 or 7 parts. Hope you enjoy it x_

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'Merlin!' she exclaimed as she saw the person standing on her doorstep, 'what are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be meeting Freya at the airport in-' she looked down at her watch '-half an hour?'

'Yep and that's kinda why I'm here actually'

'Merlin she flew all the way back from the US to celebrate your anniversary'

'Yes I know'

'Well shouldn't you be going?'

'Yes, but before I go I need to ask you a massive favour'

_Oh dear, that didn't sound good._ Gwen had a sneaking suspicion she was not going to like this.

'Yes?' she asked a little hesitantly.

'Could someone from work maybe stay round yours for a few days?'

'Someone?'

'It would only be for a few days.'

'Someone who Merlin?

'Arthur' he mumbled.

'_Arthur_ as in your boss? The biggest jerk on the planet, the guy who you are constantly complaining about? _That _Arthur?'

He nodded glumly.

'If he needs somewhere to sleep why can't he just go to a hotel, I'm pretty sure his daddy can afford it'

'It actually because of his dad he needs somewhere to stay. Do you know anything about Arthur's mum?'

'She was a famous actress wasn't she? And didn't she die when he was a baby?'

'Yep, died in a plane crash when he was six months old or something. Given the fact that she was a big time celeb and married to one of the biggest business tycoon's in the country the police suspected it

might have been foul play, but after investigation they decided that the private jet's engine must have just failed midflight. But anyway, some new evidence has just surfaced apparently and they've taken Mr

Pendragon into custody.'

'Shit' she breathed.

'Yeah and the paparazzi have staked out the house, Arthur's apartment, work, the Pendragon Hotels, and they've even got a few at Heathrow and Gatwick.'

'Have they got no shame?'

'It's a massive story Gwen, Uther was never even suspected in the initial investigation'

'Has Arthur spoken to him?'

'Yeah and Uther's only advice was for him to lie low for a while until the storm passes'

'And that's where I come in, correct?'

'It's our one year anniversary and she made the effort to come out specially and I've got this whole romantic weekend planned and I managed to get time off work for once and having Arthur crashing on my

sofa might well dampen the mood' he said pleadingly.

'Merlin' she whined.

'Gwen' he begged, his eyes wide and pathetic.

She grimaced, _she was going to regret this_.

'Fine, I'll take him. But you owe me BIG time Merlin'

'Yes' he grinned, 'yes I do. Tell you what, I'll buy you some chocolates'

'For what I'm doing you should buy me a bloody factory!'

'I love you Gwen!' he said hugging her tightly, 'I will make it up to you I promise!'

'You'd better' she grumbled.

'I'll just go and get Arthur' he said brightly.

'He's _here_!' she blurted out.

'Yeah, he's downstairs in the car. That is okay isn't it?'

She sighed,_ she was too nice for her own good sometimes, _'sure that's fine.'

'You are the best Gwen' he said with a child's grin.

'You have a great time with Freya' she smiled, placing a kiss on his cheek, 'give her my love won't you'

'Will do' he beamed heading down the stairs, 'and I'll be back Monday to pick up Arthur'

_What had she let herself in for?

* * *

_

Arthur emerged onto the landing, slightly out of breath and irritable 'you should get the lift fixed' he moaned, removing his leather holdall from his shoulder. She resisted the temptation to roll her eyes.

'You must be Gemma' he said offering her his hand.

'It's Gwen actually'

'Oh right, sorry' he replied offhandedly, oblivious to the cold note in her voice.

'Yeah and we've met before' she couldn't help mentioning, 'about a dozen times in fact, I'm Morgana's executive assistant'

'Cool' he said, clearly not having listening to a word she had just said.

'Is this your apartment?' he said moving past her and through the open door.

'After you' she fumed in a whisper. _What __**had**__ she let herself in for?

* * *

_

By the time she had bolted the front door Arthur was already on the sofa, shoes off, feet on her coffee table, TV blaring.

'You don't mind if I watch the footie right?' he said without taking his eyes off the screen.

'Erm' she began.

'Sorry but would you mind keeping it down, I'm trying to hear the commentary'

She stalked off to the kitchen snapping the door shut behind her. She paced the length of the room, which admittedly was all of about six feet. _He had some nerve! He had just banished her from her own living _

_room, told her to be quiet in her own home. How dare he?! She was doing him a favour for Christ's sake. That jumped-up, arrogant, conceited, big-headed- _And that was where reason stopped her. _He was the son of _

_the CEO of the Pendragon Group, her superior, he could very easily have her fired. Oh shit! She hadn't thought of that. Stupid, bloody Merlin! Why had he had to dump her in this mess?_

She sat down on the kitchen counter and flicked on the kettle, _a good cup of tea was all she needed. Clear her head. It was only a few days after all. How bad could it be? _She pulled a mug from the cupboard as the

kettle began to whistle furiously.

'Jen!' came the shout from the living room, 'if you're making a cuppa make me one wouldn't you? Milk and one sugar please'

She closed her eyes and took a cleansing breath, _just a few days Gwen, that's all it is, just a few days.

* * *

_

'Here you go' she said handing him his tea and perching at the opposite end of the sofa, as far from him as possible.

'Thanks' he said, his eyes rooted to the screen.

She looked at the TV closely for the first time. 'You do know this is a repeat right?'

'Yeah' he said still not looking at her.

'So you've already seen it?'

'Of course. But a game is always best the third time you watch it'

'course' she said with a grin he was oblivious to, she had never pegged Arthur Pendragon as a loser, but honestly, he was beginning to make her look cool. _Okay _she amended, _not quite cool._

Then Arthur put his mug down on her coffee table centimetres away from the coaster she had put out for him, placing it straight onto the wood of the antique oak table she had been left by her Mum. And she

couldn't hold it in anymore.

'Use a coaster for God's sake, it's not rocket science!'

He looked up at her in surprise, actually looking at her properly for the first time since his arrival.

'Sorry' he said with a sheepish look as he moved his mug.

'It's okay,' she said a little embarrassed by her outburst, 'I shouldn't have over-reacted'

He gave her a fleeting smile and the phone rang.

'Hey babe!'

'Morgana?' she asked a little surprised. Arthur turned around on the sofa to look at her irritably.

'Would you mind keeping it down?'

She grimaced at him and then retreated, once again to the kitchen.

'Sorry about that. Hi'

'Look I'm just calling to say I'm staying in Dubai til Monday. Uther thought it would be a good idea for me and Arthur to keep out of the public eye until everything blows over. Speaking of Arthur, Merlin

mentioned that he was crashing round yours'

'Yep'

'So I take it that he was one who just banished you from your living room?'

'Yep'

'Well good luck with that. You are going to need it'

'You're telling me?' she grinned, 'hang on, if you're not heading home tonight, how are you planning on getting to that buyers' meeting in the East End tomorrow morning?'

'Gwen you know how much I love you right?'

'Morgana!'

'You've been to loads of buyers' meetings with me'

'I've never chaired one'

'You'll be fine. Besides you're always talking about wanting more challenges and responsibility'

'Yeah' she acknowledged grudgingly, 'but this is big'

'Well I trust you to total kick ass tomorrow'

'Fine, I'll do it'

'Love you! And there's no point you going into work until I'm back so take the rest of tomorrow off, okay?'

'Erm'

'Relax, chill out a bit'

'You do remember Arthur's staying with me?'

'Oh yeah' she paused to think, 'get really hammered?' she suggested.

'Thanks Morgana' she said sarcastically but she grinned.

'I'm really sorry babe but I've gotta go. Don't worry you'll do great and I'll give you a call tomorrow evening to ask how it went.'

'Night'

'Night babe'

The line went dead.

* * *

She looked down at her watch, _the footie had be over soon._

She slipped off the kitchen counter and returned to the living room. The TV screen was black, the sofa, empty.

Arthur emerged from her bedroom with nothing but his boxers on. She gawped.

'Thanks for making up the bed for me' he said making his way to the bathroom.

With her full attention caught by his bare torso she could only nod dumbly.

The bathroom door snapped shut behind him and the trance was broken, _thanks for making up the bed? What was he talking about? She hadn't made up the sofa bed for him yet, she had been just about to get the _

_spare sheets out of the airing cupboard. And hadn't he come out of her bedroom. Oh no! She had just been turfed out of her own bed! This day was just getting better and better,_ she thought bitterly.

She ducked into her room to grab the necessities for the next day, and stashed them away in the closet by the front door, all before he emerged from the bathroom.

'Night' he said as he shut her bedroom door.

She made up her bed on the sofa. It was times like this when she wished she'd had the foresight to buy a camp bed. She had just turned over for the umpteenth, trying to get comfortable when the snoring

started. _Bloody hell, this guy was going to drive her insane!_ She pulled her duvet over her head, but it did little to muffle the noise. She knew she ought to feel sorry for him. His family was a total mess at the

moment and what's more it was going to be splashed over the front pages of the papers tomorrow. He clearly didn't have any friends he could trust who he could stay with, why else would he be crashing

round at the apartment of some complete stranger (as far as he was concerned.) She should pity him really, and yet she didn't. He was rude, obnoxious, insensitive, thoughtless and generally a complete tool.

No, she definitely didn't pity him.

* * *

She rolled over and looked at her watch. It was six thirty. Arthur was still snoring. Still in her bed. And she was still fuming. She tumbled off the sofa and staggered into the shower. Half an hour later she was

dressed, hair and make up done and was shovelling down a bowl of Special K with one hand, scrawling a hurried note to Arthur with the other.

_Arthur,_

_Have meeting with buyers. Will be back before three. Feel free to watch any movies or read any books you want. Help yourself to food in the fridge or freezer. Need to turn shower to hot for cold and cold for hot- it's _

_broken. _

_See you later,_

_Gwen

* * *

_

He looked down at the note. It was half eleven already which meant he only had a few hours before she was back. His tummy rumbled noisily so he decided to make himself baked beans on toast. It took him

ten minutes to work out how to turn the hob on and then proceeded to burn the beans to the bottom of the saucepan as he half watched Terminator 3 on Film Four. He had been disgusted to find that Gwen's

DVD collection had compromised of dozens of chick-flick rom-coms, period dramas and CSI box-sets, while her bookcase had been filled with the likes of Austen, Dickens and Tolstoy, interrupted only by the kind

of trashy novels they flog on mass at airports.

Once he had finished his lunch and the film was over he flung his used plate, cutlery, glass and saucepan into the sink. He looked around and at a loss for anything better to do, he jumped in the shower.

* * *

It was decidedly chilly as she made her way back from the tube station, the icy wind whipping about her, tearing at her jacket and knotting her hair. She was frozen by the time she reached her apartment

building, and she was starving too, not having had the chance to eat anything since seven that morning. And yet she was still smiling. Morgana had been right, she had totally 'kicked ass.' Her pitches had gone

without a hitch and she had even managed to get John Lewis to up this year's purchase by ten percent and get a very reluctant Marks and Spencer to renew their order for the next three years, an account

which even Mr Pendragon had been concerned that their department would lose. _Yes, she was very pleased with herself._ Consequently when she turned the key in her lock she was in an unusually good mood. 

_The living room wasn't too bad_, she reasoned, _it wasn't like she would be comfortable leaving the room in that state._ The sofa cushions were mussed and out of place, discarded DVDs, books and magazine lay on

the floor around the coffee table._ At least he seemed to have got the message about the coffee table_ she thought brightly. She could hear the shower running and although a little peeved she wasn't able to have

the hot bath she had been dreaming about the whole walk home, she let it go.

_Oh well, _she thought, _she'd just have it when Arthur got out. It would be fine, and in the meantime she would just grab some late lunch._

Then she entered the kitchen. Dirty dishes lay in the sink, breadcrumbs shattered the counter top, half a can of baked beans sat on the side, tomato sauce having formed a pool around the base. One of the

gas hobs was still alight, something she hurriedly rectified. The freezer door hung slightly ajar. She checked the contents, _great! It was a defrosting job. _

She quickly washed the dishes and cleaned the kitchen side before emptying the freezer, managing to fit most of the food, with military precision into her small fridge. Everything else was placed in a plastic bag

and she headed across the hall to her elderly neighbour.

She knocked on the door.

Mrs Clyde appeared at the door moments later, a wide smile on her face the second she saw Gwen.

'Hello my dear'

'Hi' she grinned back, 'I was just wondering if you would like some chicken fillets, minced beef and a fish pie? Only a friend-' she forced out the word, deciding _the random twat who's sleeping in my bed_ was not

an option, '-of mine left my freezer door open accidently and now I'm having to defrost the whole thing.'

'I would love them, I'll just go and get my purse'

'Why?'

'I have to pay for these Gwennie'

'No you don't,' Gwen said forcefully, 'you'd actually be doing me a massive favour in taking them'

'Gwen' the old lady said in warning tones, 'you know I think you're a lovely girl, but I do not want your charity'

'It isn't charity'

'Well let me pay for it'

'How about we just say you owe me a favour?' Gwen suggested as the old woman became more and more agitated.

'Okay' she said slowly, taking the plastic bag Gwen offered her, 'thank you Gwen'

'No thank you Mrs Clyde' she grinned, 'and now don't you forget about that favour you owe me' she said with a wink.

'I won't' she smiled back, 'have a nice weekend love'

'You too.'

When she returned Arthur was back on the sofa and was on the phone.

'Yes I'll hold' he said testily.

'Who is it?' she mouthed, but he just flapped her away.

Gwen could hear the loud obnoxious classical music playing in the background.

'That isn't a long distance call is it?'

'It's a business call to Taiwan'

It cost her a good deal not to launch herself across the coffee table to cancel the call. 'Would you mind calling them back on your mobile?' she said in a thin, pained voice.

'But I'm holding'

'And that's costing me, what, a tenner every minute?'

'Shit, that's expensive!' but he still didn't hang up.

'Yes I know, so put the phone down!'

'Give me one more minute' he said pleadingly.

She disconnected the phone.

'Now I'm going to go and have a nice long bath and you are not going to have any more astronomically expensive international phone conversations using my landline, got it?'

He may have answered her but she had already slammed the bathroom door.

She took a deep breath and tried not to think what her phone bill was going to look like at the end of the month. She would just have a nice warm bath and relax. She turned on the taps, pulled down the

blind, wacked on the radio and lit a few scented candles before stripping off and adding her favourite bubble bath. She reached down to swirl the water in order to aid in the production of bubbles but withdrew

her hand quickly. The water was ice cold.

She wrapped a towel around herself and marched back into the living room. Arthur stood up in surprise, his mouth a little open in appreciation of the view. However this made her still more livid, if that was

possible.

'All I wanted was a nice hot bath, is that really too much to ask?'

'No' he replied with the only answer which seemed appropriate.

'So can I ask why the water is freezing?'

'I dunno'

'How long were you in the shower?'

'A while'

'How long?

'Why does it even matter?'

'Because you emptied the hot water tank!'

'I didn't know it would be a problem'

'You should start thinking about other people, you're not a child'

'Is there anything else you'd to say to me?'

She breathed heavily, biting her lip.

'Please, I'd like to hear it, if there's something you want to say, don't let me stop you'

'You don't have any idea do you?

'About what?'

'About how rude and arrogant you can be. You have come into my home and have behaved like a spoilt brat from the moment you arrived. You did not even consider the fact that you might have messed with

my plans for the evening and practically threw me out of my living room. You are my guest, and not out of my choice I might add, and you have made me feel uncomfortable in my own home. I had to go to a

meeting this morning and when I returned I found my living room in disarray and my kitchen looking like the site of a nuclear disaster. And you'd left the freezer door open so now I have work out what I'm

supposed to do with half a chicken, three jumbo packs of fish fingers and twelve veggie burgers- which I don't even eat! Then once I'm done sorting that mess out I discover that thanks to you I am going have

a phone bill equal the gross national product of a small country! And after all that, all I want is a friggin hot bath and you couldn't even give me that!' she said in rush, she drew a deep breath and then added

rather more calmly, 'and you stole my bed.'

He looked her, dumbstruck.

'I stole your bed?' he asked looking a little lost.

'Yes, the bed you slept in last night was mine, I had been about to make you up a bed on the sofa'

'Why didn't you tell me?' he asked half pleadingly.

'You didn't give me the chance' she said before adding in a low voice, 'please don't fire me'

'I'm so sorry' he said touching her arm. 'You are totally right of course. You have invited me into your home when I had nowhere else to turn to and have been so accommodating and I have behaved

appallingly. I have just been so wrapped up in myself this last day or so with everything that's been going on, but that is no excuse for treating you like-' he struggled to find the right word.

'a slave?' she helped him out, now feeling rather guilty. _He did have a lot of his plate after all._

'Yeah' he agreed, 'but tonight Guinevere, I'm going to start making it up to you' he paused to think, 'I'm making you dinner'

She looked up at him in surprise both at his offer and his use of her full name;_ no one ever used her full name_, 'are you sure?'

'Of course I'm sure' he grinned, 'now do you have a friend whose bath you could use?'

'I can't ask someone to use their bath!' she exclaimed.

'Sure you can' he said with a smile, 'just say that this total douche is staying with you and drained the hot water tank'

She paused.

'Why don't you ask the nice old lady who lives across the hall?'

'Mrs Clyde?'

'You mean Doreen?'

'How do _you_ know her?'

'She popped over when you were in the bathroom to say thanks again for the groceries'

'You spoke to her?'

'Yeah, course, it would have been kinda rude to slam the door in her face. I mean, I know you don't think very highly of me but slamming the door in her face of a woman in her eighties is even below me'

'That's not what I meant. It's just now she's going to think your my-'

'Your what Guinevere?'

She couldn't help it but every time he used her full name it sent a shiver down her spine. Maybe it was just because no one ever called her that, she was just adjusting, that was all, it didn't _mean_ anything.

'-my boyfriend'

'And Mrs Clyde thinks Guinevere Leodegrance is dating Arthur Pendragon' he said in the kind of voice used only by men over loudspeakers, 'it is the end of the world as we know it!'

She gave him a playful push in the shoulder and suddenly became aware that she was standing in just her towel. Her cheeks burnt.

'I should go' she said, embarrassed.

'And I should go and get cooking' he said with a smile, 'I'll try and use up some of that chicken you had to defrost'

'That'd be great' she beamed before disappearing back into the bathroom.


	2. Chapter 2

_Right, _he thought the minute he heard the front door slam shut, _cooking. He could do this. How hard was it to cook chicken really? Who was he kidding, he couldn't cook, he'd burnt his baked beans early for Christ's s_

_ake. He couldn't do this. But she'd looked so excited, so surprised._

'Merlin pick up your bloody phone!' Arthur shouted at the voicemail. _He was royally screwed. _

Just then his eyes alighted upon his salvation, a battered looking recipe book with the promising title of 'Cooking for Dummies.'

He flicked feverishly through the chapter on chicken before he found a simple casserole. It wasn't very exciting but he had all the ingredients to hand and the book recommended it as a fool-proof dish which

you could whip up in no time.

Of course he should have known it was all too good to be true.

The peeling and chopping of the vegetables went very smoothly apart from when he nicked his thumb with the edge of the knife and spent five minutes running around like a headless chicken looking for a first

aid kit. Speaking of chicken, that had gone just fine too, once he had done the internet search to find out what sautéing actually was, anyway.

To be perfectly honest he wasn't really sure when it had all gone wrong. But it did. And it happened at some point between him putting the dish in the oven and his return after changing into his smart jeans

and a blue shirt. _It wasn't like he was making an effort for __**her**__. He was just being polite, he had been a bit of a twat since he'd arrived, he was just trying to make it up to her. He'd do the same for anyone right?_

Then he opened the oven door. An acrid scent met his nostrils and he shut the door very quickly. He looked through the glass window in the oven door to see the casserole bubbling away glutinously. _Now _

_Arthur did not know much about cooking, but he did know a casserole should not look, or smell like __**that.**_

He ran a nervous hand through his hair. _Shit, what was he going to do?_

Just then his mobile vibrated on the kitchen side.

'You called?' Merlin's voice said from the other end of the line.

'Yes I did'

'Well this is me calling you back'

There was no answer from Arthur so he continued, 'what did you want?'

'I'm cooking dinner for Gwen'

'You're cooking?' came Merlin's incredulous voice, 'is that a good idea?'

'Turns out not. I wanted your advice-' he began, but Merlin interrupted.

'Don't cook'

'But I told her I would and she was so excited. So now I have to magically whip up a meal for us out of thin air'

'So you ballsed it up?'

'Yeah'

'Are you trying to impress her?'

'Don't be ridiculously. Just tell me how to fix this' he said desperately.

'Take out seems like your only option mate'

'Okay?'

'There a great place right round the corner from you guys, The Spotted Dog, and I happen from to know from personal experience that it does very good take-out. I reckon you could pass off something from

there as your own.'

'Sounds perfect'

'Great, well I leave you to it, Freya stop it, hang on one second, I'm just getting off the phone now, Freya STOP it' he giggled.

'Oh God Merlin, I do not want to hear this!' he said hanging up feeling rather nauseous.

* * *

'Wow this looks amazing' she said beaming across the table at him. He couldn't help noticing how the candlelight caught the faint flecks of amber in her eyes, highlighted the strands of different shades in her

hair. _Yes he had lit candles. It wasn't like he had made an effort, they had just been sitting on the bookcase, a box of matches beside them. He wasn't trying to impress her or anything, Merlin had been being ridiculous. _

_He was just trying to make amends for his behaviour, __**that**__ was all._

'This is really good' she said after a few minutes of silence.

'Yeah it is' he agreed before he could himself.

'Oh Mr Modesty are we?'

'Sorry'

She laughed, at his hangdog expression, 'don't worry about it Arthur' she said, placing her hand gently over his for a split second, 'this is wonderful. Thank you.'

They chatted easily for the rest of the meal, about nothing in particular and once it was over Gwen stood up and began to clear the table.

'I'll do that' Arthur said, half rising out of his seat.

'I don't mind' she smiled, 'you did the cooking so I'll clean up'

'But I wanted to make it up to you'

'You have'

'I'm still helping with the washing up, but I just need to pop to the bathroom first.'

* * *

When he returned he found a glowering Gwen in the kitchen.

'Um' he said nervously.

'Would you like to explain why there are take away boxes in the bin Arthur?'

'Sorry, should they have gone in the recycling?' he offered with what he hoped was a winning smile.

_Obviously not_, if the expression on her face was anything to go by.

'Look I'm sorry' he said.

'I honestly don't care'

'Guinevere, we had a nice meal, what does it matter where it came from?'

'Because I thought you'd made an effort to do something for someone else Arthur, that's why'

His shoulders fell, he was going to have to tell her.

'I did make the effort, it just-' he paused, '-went a bit wrong'

She arched a sceptical eyebrow.

'It's still in the oven if you don't believe me'

'You left it in the oven?'

'Yes, not turned on obviously, but I just needed somewhere to put it which wouldn't give you need to fumigate your apartment.'

She opened the oven door with tentative interest.

'Eugh' she said clapping a hand over her nose and mouth.

'Arthur what the hell is that?'

'Chicken casserole' he said pathetically, his cheeks aflame.

She had to have another look. She opened the oven door once more and prodded the contents of the dish gingerly with her forefinger.

'It's like jelly' she said with a mixture of disgust and fascination.

'Hey it's not _my _fault, there must be something wrong with your recipe'

'I must have made that chicken casserole twenty times, and I'm no Jamie Oliver or anything, but mine never turned out like _that. _It smells like something died in there._'_

'Well it _is_ chicken' Arthur said defensively.

She giggled.

'Thank you Arthur'

'For what?'

'For ordering take out, there is no way I could not have eaten that'

'So I'm forgiven?'

'Yes you're forgiven. Though this does leave us in something of a dilemma'

'What do you mean?'

'Well what are we going to do with it? I don't know if it's safe to put it in landfill'

He gave her a playful shove.

Then suddenly she disappeared out of the room.

'Hey Gwen, I thought we were going to do the washing up'

She returned, digital camera in hand a second later.

'Guinevere' he said in a warning tone.

'Just one picture, just so I can show Merlin'

'No' he said, standing protectively in front of the oven door.

'Or I could call him, I'm sure he wouldn't mind coming over to see your masterpiece'

'You wouldn't' he said with narrowed eyes.

'Wouldn't I?' she asked innocently as she whipped out her mobile and began to scroll through her contacts list. He launched himself at her, attempting to wrest the phone from her grip. After several minutes of

struggling he won. He raised himself up onto his tip toes and placed her phone and camera on the top of the kitchen cupboard, safe, well out of her reach.

She crossed her arms and frowned like a sulking child, 'fine, you win for now'

He grinned, 'are you washing or drying?'

* * *

They crashed onto the sofa and Arthur's hand instantly flew to the remote.

_Back to his old ways_ she thought only half grudgingly.

'Your choice' he said, offering it to her.

She looked over at him with the same taken aback expression she had worn after he told her he would make her dinner. He found he liked surprising her. He liked it a lot.

'I made you watch the footie last night'

She laughed, 'yeah you did. And I hate football'

'You hate football?' he exclaimed turning to face her cross legged on the sofa.

'Well I hate footballers. They are such pansies; give me a rugby player any day of the week. Rugby's a real man's game' she said with a sly grin.

'I play football!'

It was too tempting, 'I figured'

'No remote for you' he said snatching it to his chest, accidently knocking the 'on' button.

'So in a round up of the day's news, strikes by the National Union of teachers are causing major disruption to schools today, the business tycoon and widower Uther Pendragon remains in custody in connection

with his wife's death twenty-' the screen went black.

Gwen had lunged across Arthur and had torn the remote from his now limp hands.

There was silence.

'Dad'll be pissed he came after the teachers' strike' he said in a hollow voice.

'It will all work itself out' she said putting her hand on top of his again, but keeping it there this time.

'I know' he said heavily, 'it's just hard having all your family's crap plastered on the front page of newspapers'

'Chances are with the strike on, it won't be on the front page.'

She ran a thumb gently over the back of his hand and suddenly he felt calmer.

'Now I'm going to punish you for the footie last night' she said getting up from the sofa.

'You're not going to make me watch hours of rugby are you?'

'No' she said digging around in a cupboard, 'it's much better than that'

She pulled the dusty VHS from a cardboard box in the closet, a look of triumph in her eyes.

'What's that?' he asked warily.

'Pride and Prejudice' she grinned, 'the BBC 1995 version'

'Oh, okay' he said shrugging, 'I've never seen it so-'

'You've never seen it?' she exclaimed, looking up from the VCR, 'you're a P&P virgin!'

'I saw some of that one with Kiera Nightly and that guy with the nose-'

'_That_ does not count' she said throwing herself down on the sofa beside him, 'this is classic British television my friend'

'How many times have you watched this?'

'I dunno, maybe twenty times'

'That's so sad' he laughed.

'_A game's always best the third time you watch it' _she quoted deftly, one eyebrow raised, a smirk on her lips.

'Fine' he said with a sigh, 'so we are both pathetic'

'Hell yeah' she grinned at him.

'Can you pause it a sec?' she said chucking him the remotes as the title music began to play.

She jumped up and disappeared into the bathroom, turning off the living room light on her way back, before rejoining him on the sofa, he only just having found the pause button. She watched with some

amusement as Arthur then struggled to unpause the screen, his tongue poking out in concentration.

She took the remote from his hands, 'you have to press the play button' she ribbed him.

'Oh and I should warn you, as this is my choice, I get to replay any bits I want' she grinned up at him.

'Of course'

'Sshh' she hissed, placing a finger to her lips, her eyes mocking him.

'You're mean'

'Sssshhhh!'

* * *

'Is Mrs Bennet always so irritating?'

'Yes'

'And those girls?'

'Yes'

'Jeez'

'Ssshhh'

* * *

'Is Mr Bingely always such a prig?'

'Yes and ssshh'

'And that dancing is ridiculous'

'Ssshh'

* * *

'Who stuck the stick up Darcy's arse?'

'Sssshhh'

'Oh my God!'

'What?'

'He just said she is _not handsome enough to tempt me-_ what a douche'

'He didn't know she could hear him'

'He's a douche' Arthur declared his judgment, folding his arms across his chest.

'Now he's gawping at her, make up your bloody mind mate'

'Arthur'

'And now he wants to dance with her. What's his problem?'

'Arthur, be quiet'

'He's totally got the hots for her'

'Oh dear, poor Jane Austen, she just turned in her grave'

'It's not my fault he's got this whole angsty sexual tension thing going on. Ow smouldering stare, yeah like that'll work'

'Ouch!' he yelped, 'Gwen don't hit me'

* * *

'Is that it?' he asked as the credits began to role, 'that's a crap ending, how are we supposed to know what happens?'

'It's a miniseries Arthur, that was just the first episode'

'Can we watch the next one?'

She shot him a shocked look.

'What?'

'You enjoyed it'

'I don't know what you're talking about, I just thought you might want to-'

'You enjoyed it' she grinned, prodding him in the side 'admit it otherwise we won't watch the next episode'

'I still maintain the dancing is one of the most ridiculous things I've ever seen, but the rest of it wasn't too bad, but I'm not that fussy'

'Well we don't have to watch it'

'I hate you. You're going to make me say it, aren't you?'

'Yep'

'Okay, please Gwen can we watch the next episode of Pride and Prejudice?'

'Did you catch that Merlin?' Gwen said, withdrawing her mobile from behind her back.

'Loud and clear' Merlin's tinny though delighted voice crackled over the airwaves, 'she's got you whipped Arthur!'

Arthur lunged across her lap, snapping the phone shut. But the damage was already done. He raised his eyes to hers.

'You are pure evil'

'And I told you that you'd only won for the time being'

'You're still mean'

'Sorry' she said a little shamefaced, 'I know, but it was just too tempting an opportunity to pass up'

Arthur scowled mutinously at her.

'Look how about I make us some popcorn and we'll watch the next instalment, _and_ you can talk as much as you like' she said as she extricated herself from the clutches of the sofa.

'Sounds like a plan' he grinned, before adding rather bemusedly, 'how do you _make _popcorn?'

'You put it in the microwave' she said trying not to laugh.

'That's so cool' he said, eyes wide as saucers, 'can I help?'

'Isn't that kind of cooking?'

'I won't touch anything I promise'

'Fine, then grab a bowl.' He beamed as he opened cupboard door after cupboard door, 'that one there' she pointed.

'Got it' he said producing the bowl proudly. She smiled back at him as something inside her fluttered like the wings of a bird. There was something rather charming in his boyish enthusiasm and his total rapture

at the prospect of something as simple as microwavable popcorn. She was now beginning to see why so many girls were queuing up to date him. Admittedly she had always presumed that was because of his

huge trust fund and his pretty boy looks. She had never seen this side of him before, and what was so strange about the whole thing was that it didn't seem like he was playing any kind of game. She had

always dismissed Merlin before when he had said that Arthur wasn't really as bad as seemed at first, but now she understood. Or at least she thought she did. _It's not like it even mattered_ she thought, shaking

herself mentally, _he was going to be gone in two days and they would go back to being nothing more than acquaintances from work, he would probably have forgotten her name within the week._

'The popping's stopped. Doesn't that mean it's done?' he asked a little uncertainly, breaking through her thoughts.

'Yeah' she said pressing the stop button quickly, 'sorry, I was miles away'

* * *

They re-ensconced themselves on the sofa before Arthur shivered almost imperceptibly.

'You cold?'

'I'm fine' he smiled, 'unless you're cold?'

'Now that you mention it, I am a little bit chilly' she lied as she stood up and crossed to the closet, pulling out her spare duvet with a flourish. She jumped back onto the sofa pulling the duvet over the pair of

them. She placed the bowl of popcorn on their lap as Arthur leant across her to press the 'play' button on the remote control on the coffee table.

Arthur continued his commentary through the second episode and Gwen bore it well enough, keeping her promise of letting him talk to his heart's content. When he began his character assassination of Mr

Collins she even joined in.

'Oh great they are dancing _again_'

'Mr Collins- what a total cringe!'

'Lizzie slates Darcy, how unfortunate'

'He's not very chatty is he?'

In the course of Arthur's monologue he had slipped his hand beneath the duvet and had begun running a finger absentmindedly up and down the outer seam of the leg of his jeans, their closeness causing his

knuckles to brush her thigh with every movement of his finger. She felt a hot flush creep into her cheeks.

'Ha, the dick got owned' he said, breaking the spell.

'Um Arthur' she said hesitantly, looking down at the patch of duvet which covered his hand, her cheeks on fire.

'Shit' he said withdrawing his hand instantly, 'sorry, I didn't mean to-'

His cheeks matched hers as he spluttered onwards.

'Gwen, I'm really sorry, I really didn't...shit...sorry'

'Its okay' she smiled at him coyly, looking up at him through her thick, dark eyelashes in a way that was oh so very alluring. _Snap out of it!_ He scolded himself, _what the hell are you thinking? Have you lost all use _

_of your brain? _

'I'm just a bit ticklish' she grinned. _Oh crap, stop thinking what you're thinking Arthur_ he commanded himself, _pull your mind out of the gutter and get back in the room._

'Sorry'

'Don't worry about it' she yawned.

'You tired?'

'Uhuh' she grinned, 'but I'll watch the end of the episode with you' she said, wriggling a fraction closer to him under the duvet.

Two minutes later he felt a gentle weight hit his shoulder. He looked down and found her cheek against his collar bone. He smiled at how natural it felt. _Oh Arthur don't you dare!_ A voice in his head, which

sounded a lot like Merlin's, warned him fiercely. He cleared his mind and returned his focus to Mr Collins's horrendous marriage proposal which was unfolding before his eyes.

* * *

It wasn't long before the episode was over and at the first bar of music Gwen started awake, pushing herself up using Arthur's chest for support. Then she realised what she was doing. 'Sorry' she said,

snatching away her hand, her cheeks re-heating swiftly.

'No problem' he said, trying not to smile at her slightly mussed hair and bleary eyed confusion.

'I feel asleep'

'Yeah you did' he grinned, 'time for you to go to bed I think. Could you just tell me where the rest of the bed sheets are?'

'Arthur I wasn't serious about you sleeping on the sofa, I don't mind-' she yawned widely '-honestly'

'You need a good night's sleep, you look awful'

Her hands flew to her hips in mock outrage.

'That wasn't how it was supposed to come out'

She laughed, 'are you sure about this?'

'Oh don't try and be nice now after you made me feel so guilty for stealing your bed last night' he grinned, '-no I don't mind'

She pulled the remaining sheets out of the closet and together they made up his bed on the sofa.

'I had a really nice time tonight Guinevere' he said as they straightened up.

'Me too' she said looking up at him, her brown eyes meeting his blue ones, he was suddenly aware of how close they were, her face only inches from his own.

Then the phone rang.

'Hi' Gwen said uncertainly into the speaker.

'Hey babe'

Covering the mouthpiece she hissed, 'its Morgana'

'I'll take that as my cue to nab the bathroom' he grinned.

She watched him walk away and he gave her a fleeting wink as he shut the bathroom door.

She flushed.

'Er Gwennie?' came Morgana's voice from the other end of the line, Gwen having totally forgotten about her.

'Sorry'

'So tell me, how did the meeting go?'

Gwen sat down on the arm of the sofa and gave her a blow by blow account.

Arthur waited by the bathroom door, not wanting to interrupt the conversation. He listened to the enthusiasm and pride in Gwen's voice as she described the meeting and felt a sudden rush of regret that he

had not asked her about it. He made a mental note to question her about it first thing next morning.

'So tell me, how's my dear old brother been?' Morgana asked once Gwen was done talking about the business meeting.

'Well the first night was awful'

Arthur looked around for something to do, he suddenly felt like he ought not be privy to this conversation.

'We had a huge fight when I got back from the meeting'

_No, he definitely shouldn't be hearing this._

'I was really horrible Morgana!' she took a deep breath, 'we are talking mega psycho bitch kind of horrible'

There was silence as Morgana offered her reply.

'Yes, he can be a pain in the arse, I know that,' _he didn't want to hear this _'but he's got a lot on his plate at the moment and I actually had a really great time tonight'

_Okay, maybe he did want to hear this after all._

'He cooked me dinner'

He could almost hear the disbelief in Morgana's reply.

'Yes he did!' Gwen said, proving him right. There was a second's pause, 'so it didn't go exactly to plan' Gwen conceded, 'but I really appreciated the effort.' _At least Gwen had her priorities right, _he grinned, 

_Guinevere had appreciated the effort._

'And what did we do after dinner?' Gwen repeated Morgana's question before saying, 'we watched the new James Bond film, not the Quantum of Solace, the Casino one, it was on ITV movies.'

He felt something inside him soften, like butter that's been left in the sun. _She had known Morgana would take the piss out of him for weeks if she found he'd spent the evening watching Pride and Prejudice and _

_genuinely enjoyed it. She had told a little white lie to protect his ego instead. Admittedly she had told Merlin, _but somehow, as he leant against the rim of the sink listening to Gwen chatter away to Morgana, he

found he didn't really care.

* * *

_Author's note: Thanks very much for the lovely reviews as always guys. Hope you enjoyed the chapter, apologies for all the p&p references for anyone who has not read the book or the film, or the wonderful BBC version. I don't own that, or Merlin x_


	3. Chapter 3

The phone was ringing, but the warm folds of sleep were clinging to her fast. Then it suddenly stopped ringing and Arthur's voice replaced it, 'Hi?'

_Shit!_

She scrambled from the bed, the bedcovers all the while attempting to waylay her.

'Gwen's not up yet. Can I take a message?'

She emerged from the bedroom, cutting a rather dishevelled figure in the doorway.

'Oh you're in luck, she's actual just woken up'

'Excuse me?' he said looking at the receiver, 'I don't think that kind of language is really necessary'

'Arthur' she hissed extended her hand.

'It's Simon' he said passing the phone, 'he sounds mad'

'Hey Simon' she said brightly.

'Who the hell was that guy?' Arthur heard Simon shout.

'I'll go do...' Arthur murmured, looking for an excuse not to listen to this conversation.

He headed into the kitchen, shutting the door shut behind him and put on the kettle. However neither the wood nor the sound of the kettle coming to the boil did much to blot out the sound of Gwen's voice

from the living room.

'Simon he's sleeping on the sofa!'

'Yes I am aware that he's male'

'He's a friend, I'm just doing him a favour'

'No, not _that _type of favour!'

'Oh believe whatever you want'

'Yes he is going to be here tomorrow, why does that matter?'

'Oh shit, I'd completely forgotten'

'Well he will just be here too I guess'

'No it won't be awkward'

'For the last time, I'm not sleeping with him'

'Bye Simon!' she hung up just as the kettle began to whistle.

She entered the kitchen.

'Could you make me one?' she said looking rather harried.

'Sure' he said hopping off the kitchen side, 'so that was your boyfriend' he tried to say offhandedly.

She snorted, 'er no Arthur, that was my cousin'

'Oh really?' he said a little too brightly for his liking.

'Yeah, he can be a bit overprotective at times'

'I heard'

'Sorry about that'

'No problem' he said pouring the hot water into the two mugs, 'what's going on tomorrow?'

'It's my Dad's birthday and I totally forgot that the family is coming round here for lunch'

'Well do you want me to disappear for the day? Would that make life easier for you?'

'Don't be silly, I mean unless you want to go somewhere, family gatherings are pretty lame and there are going to be a few of them, my dad, my step mum, my two step brothers, my half brothers, Simon and

my Gran.'

'I'd love to meet them' he said before hastily trying to backtrack, 'it's not like I've got anything better to do'

'Okay' she said, thanking him as he passed her a mug.

'So you don't have a boyfriend?'

'No'

'Why?' he asked, adding quickly, 'sorry, I shouldn't have asked'

'It's alright. I was in a long term relationship a while back and it didn't end very well'

'That Spanish looking guy from Marketing wasn't it?'

'Yeah, Lancelot'

'What happened?' he asked, fighting off the feeling that he was being too personal.

'He got offered a work placement in China for three years. I didn't want to go with him, he didn't want a long distance relationship. That was it'

'Did you love him?'

'Maybe'

'Do you regret not going?'

'Never' she said turning to face him, 'I couldn't have left my Dad, or Merlin, or Morgana, my job, my whole life for a guy I wasn't sure was the One'

'What a douche'

'What?' she laughed, catching his eye.

'I mean ending it like that, not even giving long distance a go. It's working for Merlin and Freya pretty well.'

'I guess he must have had the same doubts as I did'

'He's an idiot for letting you go.' He had only meant to think the words, not actually _say _them, but they were tumbling from his lips before he could stop them.

'I mean' he said colouring darkly, 'you guys were together for nearly a year right? I can't believe he thought it wasn't worth giving it a shot. And besides there aren't many girls like you' realising how that

statement might sound he amended casually, 'so if you're his type he's going to have a pretty tough job finding someone quite as testy and loserish as you.'

She nudged him playfully with her elbow, grinning.

'And I can live safe in the knowledge that I will never meet someone as obnoxious and pathetic as you, not if I survive to be a hundred.'

'I reckon you'll make it to the century, those crazy cat lady types always live forever'

'Ouch!' she said in mock outrage, 'I think you'll make a pretty good mad hermit too' she grinned.

'You're probably right' he said his features suddenly darkening.

'Arthur it was a joke'

'I know, but you're right. I mean I haven't had a serious girlfriend in years'

She set down her mug on the kitchen side, coming to stand in front of him.

'How come?'

'I don't know'

'Yes you do' she said, her eyes seeking his, 'hey I told you about my emotional baggage, now it's only fair you do the same'

'My last serious girlfriend was at Uni, we started dating at the end of our first year and we were together for about eighteen months. But then I found out that she'd been sleeping with my best mate for half

that time behind my back.'

'That sucks Arthur' she said, her brow creased, 'but you can't let that stop you living your life.'

'I know but I just wasn't able to open up to anyone since then and to be perfectly honest I hadn't found anyone I felt it was worth taking that chance on'

'Look Arthur, just give it a go, so what if it ends in total disaster?'

'Wow, way to sell it to me Guinevere' he grinned

'All I'm saying is that sometimes it takes a while to find the right fit, but it doesn't mean you stop looking' she said, her warm eyes flitting between his.

'You're good at this'

'I speak as I find' she said simply, 'you deserved to find that special someone, and that special someone deserves to get to know you, all of you Arthur, so just let them.'

Her eyes were wide and earnest and he felt a gentle smile form on his lips.

'You are very good at this'

'So watching all those mushy rom-coms paid off eventually' she grinned, shattering the moment, 'I knew they'd come in handy some day' she said, snatching his empty mug from his hands.

'Do you want some breakfast?' she asked as she rinsed their mugs.

'I'll make myself toast if that's okay?'

'No, it's not okay' she snapped.

'What?' he asked bewilderedly.

'I'm joking Arthur, of course it's okay'

'Jeez don't do that to me. How am I supposed to know you were joking? You _are_ a mega psycho bitch after all' he grinned

'You overheard Morgana's call?'

'Snippets of it' he said casually, 'but I'd really like to hear a full account of your buyers' meeting if you don't mind?'

* * *

'Arthur?' Gwen called.

'Yeah?' he shouted back through the bathroom door as he pulled his hoody over his head.

'I'm popping out to the shops, I'll be back soon'

'Hang on! Can't I come too?' he said pulling open the door.

'I'm just going to pick up a few groceries for tomorrow, nothing exciting'

'I know, but I've been cooped up inside since Thursday night. I'd really like some fresh air, if that's okay with you?'

'But I thought you were supposed to be lying low?'

'Yeah but I doubt anyone would recognise me unless they're a journalist whose looking for me, it's only my parents who are famous. But if you don't want me to come it's alright'

'No I don't mind'

'Look if you need some time to yourself that's fine, I'll go for a walk or something'

'Arthur I don't mind, but grab a coat otherwise you'll freeze'

'I don't get cold'

She arched an eyebrow in response.

'Fine' he grumbled, 'I'll get my coat'

* * *

He took a deep breath of fresh, cool air the moment they had exited the stairwell and whipped out his aviators, to shield his eyes from the bright wintery sunlight.

'You do realise you look ridiculous?'

'I do _not _look ridiculous' he said turning up his coat collar against the cold, 'and even if I did, I wouldn't care'

'But you always seem so image conscious'

'I am normally because I have a part to play. Here I am just like anyone else, and I can wear my stupid sunglasses if I want to and if Guinevere Leodegrance permits it'

She grinned, 'I'll allow it just this once' she said slipping her arm through his.

* * *

They entered her local Sainsbury's and Gwen withdrew the list from her jeans pocket as Arthur pushed his sunglasses onto his head.

'This is so exciting' he said looking around.

'You're not serious?'

'I am' he said sincerely, 'I've never been proper grocery shopping before'

'What?' she exclaimed, turning to him.

'I was always in catered accommodation for Uni'

'But what about now?'

'Merlin does my shopping for me online' he said unfazed.

'Arthur' she said incredulously, 'he's your assistant, not your personal slave'

'I know, but he doesn't mind and he needs the extra cash I can give him for doing stuff like that, if he's considering settling down with Freya'

_There really was more to him than meets the eye._

'Besides I'm far too busy to do my own shopping' he said loftily.

A half frown creased her forehead, _why did he do that?_

'So do we want a basket or a trolley?'

* * *

The shopping went well enough, though Arthur was a little overenthusiastic with regard to the various special offers. The problem arose when they reached the checkout.

'I'll pay for this' Arthur said whipping out his credit card.

'No'

'I'm paying you back for the phone calls'

'No Arthur'

'That's not fair'

'It's too much'

'Wait til you get your phone bill'

The poor checkout girl looked between them rather confused.

'I'm paying'

'No you most certainly are not Arthur'

'You could go fifty: fifty on it, if that helps?' the girl offered tentatively.

'That sounds great' Arthur said flashing her a bright smile which caused her to flush scarlet.

He smirked as he felt Gwen's scowl on him.

Together they packed the shopping into carrier bags, though Gwen remained silent the whole time, her lips pursed.

They each paid their half and Gwen thanked the girl on the till.

'Thanks' Arthur said grinning, 'have a great day'

'You too' the girl said shyly and just as they turned to leave she added, 'I love your sunglasses by the way,' her face on fire.

'Thanks very much' he beamed, his walk instantly becoming something like a strut.

'At least _someone_ likes my sunglasses' he hissed in Gwen's ear.

'Oh shut up you smarmy git' she said, unable to hit him, laden as her hands were with plastic bags.

* * *

'Do you want to watch a movie or something while I bake the birthday cake?' she said tying her hair back in a bun and throwing on an apron.

'You're baking your dad a birthday cake?'

'No I'm baking a cake for a guy called Algie who lives on the fifth floor'

'Fine' he said rolling his eyes, 'what I meant was that I didn't know you were'

'Do you want to help?' she asked, half hesitant.

'I'm not sure you want my help, you do remember the chicken last night?'

'How could I forget?' she grinned, 'but I'll be there to watch you all the time and I'll stop you before you do anything stupid.'

'Are you sure you don't mind?'

'Yes I'm sure, now take off your hoody and put on the other apron'

'Bossy, I like it' he said with a wink.

She feigned a scowl then added, 'Oh and could you grab my iPod and speakers from my room?'

* * *

He reappeared at the door a moment later, iPod in hand as he scrolled through her tracks, 'you've got a playlist called '_Cheesy 90s music'- _now I have to hear that!' he said plugging in the speakers.

'_Hello Party People!  
_

_This Is Captain Kim Speaking..'._

'You are just too cool Gwen!'

'I'll take that as a complement, now wash you hands.'

* * *

As Gwen would not allow Arthur anywhere near the oven or the eggs he was left standing around for a while with little to do but sing and dance along to some childhood classics. He was half way through a

very emotive and dramatic rendition of Cher's '_Believe'_, happily singing into his wooden spoon, when Gwen interrupted.

'Do you want to sift the flour?' she said with a crooked smile.

'Sure' he grinned, still humming along to the music.

With the cake in the oven all that was left to be done was to make up the chocolate frosting. Arthur had discovered a taste for mixing, which he set about with his normal boyish enthusiasm, so much so that

Gwen was forced to hold down the bowl to stop it slipping off the counter top. However this placed her dangerously close to Arthur's chocolate coated spoon. He completed an especially vicious circuit of the

bowl, causing a large quantity of chocolate to fly through the air and find Gwen's cheek.

She looked at him in total shock. Then she ran her finger, slowly, seductively around the rim of the bowl. He watched transfixed before she placed a blob of the mixture on his nose.

He snapped out his trance, he dipped his finger into the chocolate too. He lunged for her but she dodged out of the way to grab some more of her own ammunition. He launched himself at her again and this

time she managed to dance out of his way, planting her newly covered palm on his cheek with a squelch.

_This was war!_

* * *

'I admit defeat!' he panted from the kitchen floor, his face, neck, hands and arms smothered in frosting, Gwen standing over him, a broad grin on her face.

There was a sudden _ping!_ from the oven timer, taking them both by surprise.

She offered him a sticky hand which he accepted gratefully as he got to his feet.

She rinsed her hands then removed the cake from the oven, and content that it was done, placed it on the side to cool.

'Do we get to do the frosting now?'

'No, we have to wait until they are totally cool'

'Okay so dance with me!'

'No Arthur'

'No one can see'

'Come on' he said pressing a button on the iPod with one of his cleaner fingers, 'S club 7- how can you possibly resist?'

'_Don't stop, never give up  
_

_Hold your head high and reach the top...'_ he sang along at the top of his voice, taking Gwen's hand in his, and spinning her under his arm.

Gwen soon loosened up, and after a few more songs was whipping out all her favourite childhood dance moves without a second thought. However the song abruptly changed to a much mellower tune.

'Oh sorry' she said going to change the track, 'this was just my favourite mushy nineties ballad'

'Then leave it' he said catching her hand.

'But we can't dance to this'

'We could' he said pulling her into his arms, so their bodies were almost touching. He wrapped his arms around her waist and she placed hers around his neck, resting her cheek against the top of his apron as

they swayed in time to the music. Then suddenly the front door slammed.

They flew apart with the speed and force of shrapnel.

And not a split second too soon for Merlin had just materialised in the kitchen.

'What the hell' he puffed 'is going on?' he said before taking in their appearances.

'What in God's name have you two been doing?'

'Baking' Gwen offered innocently.

'So why haven't you picked up mine and Morgana's calls, we thought you might be out so we called your mobiles too and no answer, so I ran all the way over here to make sure you were alright' he growled. _  
_

'Sorry' they said together, 'we had the music on really loud so we couldn't hear anything' Gwen explained, '_Who let the dogs out?'_ coming on at full volume just at that moment as if to illustrate the point. She

turned it off quickly.

'And why are you covered in-' he said leaning in to take a closer look '-chocolate?'

'Arthur found it difficult to keep it in the mixing bowl'

'There is nothing wrong with being enthusiastic' he said defiantly.

'There is when you flick chocolate all over my face'

'Sorry' he grinned impishly down at her, completely ignoring Merlin's presence.

His eyes narrowed in suspicion.

'I'll go clean myself up' Gwen said, 'then we can put the frosting on the cake, what's left of it anyhow'

The boys watched her leave.

Then Merlin rounded on him.

'What is going on?'

'Nothing'

'What game are you playing?'

'I'm not playing any game'

'I was so worried you guys would be at each other's throats the whole time'

'Well we aren't'

'Yes but somehow this concerns me more. Whatever you are doing, leave Gwen out of it'

'I'm not doing anything!'

'Okay, well don't' Merlin snapped.

* * *

_What was she playing at? He was her best friend's boss, her boss's brother, her employer's son. He was Arthur Pendragon. She needed push any confusion of feeling to one side. He was her superior and that was all _

_that mattered. And yet when he smiled at her, when they touched, when he had pulled her into his strong, secure arms, she forgot all those objections as the hammering of her heart consumed her. But it was just a _

_fleeting fancy, which like a bad cold, struck you down for a few days but, given a little time, would pass and the world would be just as it had always been. Guinevere Leodegrance didn't fall head over heels for anyone. _

_And if she did, she certainly wouldn't fall for someone like Arthur Pendragon._

She splashed her face with cold water. _She would conquer this, she __**had**__ to._

* * *

'- once you've done that you can get my car washed, pick up my dry cleaning and make sure that report is done by Wednesday at the very latest'

_Yes,_ she thought adamantly, _if she was going to fall for someone it wouldn't be for someone like him._

'What's going on?' she said opening the kitchen door.

'He was just leaving' Arthur scowled at the scowling Merlin.

'Oh okay' Gwen said a little disappointed as he moved to the door.

'I'll see you Monday' Merlin said drawing her into a tight hug, still glowering over her shoulder at Arthur, 'and give your family my love'

'Will do' she said as she walked him to the front door.

'And best wishes to your dad'

'Will do'

'Look after yourself' he said pressing a kiss to her forehead.

'Will do' she said a little bemused.

Arthur stood in the doorway to the kitchen.

She threw him a critical look.

His scowl deepened, 'I'm going for a walk' he said pulling on his coat. Leaving her standing alone in her apartment, completely nonplussed.

* * *

She returned to the kitchen and turned her iPod back on and stuck it on shuffle. She careful applied the frosting to the base of each half of the cake before sandwiching them together. She then smeared liberal

amounts over the top. She was midway through piping the words _HAPPY BIRTHDAY!_ when her favourite mushy nineties ballad came on. Her heart skipped a beat. _Just typical _she thought, _two thousand songs _

_and that one had to come up._

She wiped her dirty fingers on her apron and abruptly changed the track, Bryan Adams' voice dying mid line, to be replaced with Franz Ferdinand. _Much better_ she decided.

* * *

_Author's note: thanks for all the lovely comments guys and I hope you don't mind that I'm moving away from the ep, I kinda just took inspiration from it then ran with it :D, hope no one's too disappointed. Also apologies for the inclusion of lots of cheesy 90s music, I couldn't help it as I have been in a bit of a 90s mood recently :p. Disclaimer: I don't own the music or Merlin _


	4. Chapter 4

_Author's note: sorry for the short chapter, it just didn't really fit with chapter 3 or 5. Hope you enjoy anyways, and with any luck I might be able to get up chapter 5 a bit later tonight :D x_

* * *

She was curled up on the sofa her head stuck in a book when he returned two hours later.

She was so absorbed that he had to knock for several minutes before she answered the door.

'Sorry' she said as she let him in, 'I was miles away'

She retuned to her place on the sofa and quickly found the correct page.

'Gwen?' he said tentatively.

'Uhuh?' she mumbled, her eyes focused on the words in front of her.

'I'm sorry'

'Uhuh'

'Guinevere?'

'Yes?' she said finally lifting her eyes from the book.

'I got your dad a birthday present while I was out. Is that okay?'

'Um, yeah, sure' she shrugged, 'what is it?'

'Just a CD' he said.

'Right'

'It's by some American band. It's their first album but I remembered you said your dad really likes Led Zeppelin, and Merlin mentioned this band once as having a similar kind of sound.'

She laid her book down on the coffee table, 'he will really appreciate that'

'I'm sorry' he said again.

'It's okay' she said though she was still unsure of what it was exactly he was apologising for, was it for being mean to Merlin or for his incessant flirting, or was it for something else entirely?

'Do you have any wrapping paper I can use?'

'Its on the shelf in the closet, there should be sellotape and scissors with it.'

He opened the cupboard and had to raise himself onto his tiptoes to reach the roll of paper. However as he pulled at it the roll caught a cardboard box which fell to the floor sending its contents flying.

Gwen leapt up from the sofa to gather up the scattered contents of the box and Arthur bent down to help her.

There were letters written on lavender writing paper, there were a child's drawings, a pearl necklace, a half empty bottle of perfume which thankful had not smashed, a wedding and an engagement ring and

many photographs. He studied one carefully. There was a little girl who he instantly identified as Gwen by her warm eyes, unruly curls and wide grin, she could not have been more than three or four in this

picture. Crouching down beside her was a woman who could only have been her mother. She had the same brown eyes, the same face, though it was rather thinner and paler than her daughter's and where

rebellious curls should have been a colourful headscarf sat in their place.

He felt he throat constrict.

'Sorry' he said as he handed a pile of letters and photographs to her.

'It's okay, nothing's broken' she said, putting the lid back on the box and replaced it back in the cupboard.

She returned to her spot on the sofa and an awkward silence fell as she put her book back up in front of her face.

'Guinevere?' he said gently taking a seat beside her, noticing that her eyes were unmoving and unfocused.

'Was that-'

'Yes that was my mum.'

'When...'

'She was diagnosed when I was two and fought it for five years' she said replacing her book on the coffee table.

'She must have been some woman' he said placing his hand over hers and giving it a tender squeeze.

'She was'

'I'm sorry, I didn't know'

'Its okay' she said smiling weakly, 'you see we're more similar than you thought'

'Could you tell me about her? I mean don't worry if you don't want to-'

'I don't mind' she smiled faintly, 'I don't really get to talk about her much so maybe it'd be nice'

He inched a fraction closer to her.

And so she told him. She told him about the good days mostly, when her mum had still seemed so full of life, when they had played in the park, when they had spent whole days painting in the back garden

and hours on end playing imaginary games which had generally involved Gwen being a beautiful princess who fought off dragons, witches and monsters in order to save her Kingdom and her prince. She told

him a bit about the bad days. The days that Gwen had thrown tantrums because her mum hadn't made it to her school play or when her mum hadn't been able to give her the piggy-backs she had asked for,

the days her mum's existence had been nothing more than a series of blips on the screen of a monitor.

And she told him about the letters. A letter for every eventuality. These letters were full of the kinds of things that Ava Leodegrance had wanted her daughter to know. It had been in these letters that

Guinevere had found comfort after the death of her Grandfather, after being dumped by her first boyfriend, after finding out her father would be remarrying and after she had first had her heart broken. But

most importantly it was how she had really come to know her mother.

'She sounds like one hell of a person' Arthur said once Gwen was done speaking, running his thumb back and forth over the back of her hand as she leant her slightly damp cheek against his chest.

`Time for some P&P I think' he grinned, flicking on the TV.

'Thanks Arthur' she said into his chest.

'No problem' he said gently, resting his chin on the top of her head.

* * *

It was several minutes before Gwen collected herself to become aware of what she was doing._ What was she thinking? Sitting here with him like this. Blubbering on him like that. Telling him her innermost _

_thoughts and feelings. It was just asking for trouble. Okay yes, when he was around her head got a little foggy, her thoughts a little muddled, but that was no excuse to take leave of her senses entirely. He was probably _

_oblivious to the confusion he was causing her. The way he gave her double vision, seeing two people in him. The first, the prat she had always believed him to be, the face he showed the world, the pompous, rude, _

_self-centred prickwho Merlin was constantly complaining about. And yet this man's doppelganger was harder for Gwen to handle, he was still flawed but he was also gentle, caring and a great laugh. How could two such _

_different halves be reconciled to form a coherent whole? _

'I need a cup of tea' she said standing up suddenly.

He nodded, his eyes trained to the screen.

'Do you want one?'

He nodded.

'Milk, one sugar right?'

He nodded.

* * *

When she returned she took care to sit at the opposite end of the sofa to Arthur, something that did not go unnoticed by him.

'Stop talking!' Arthur shouted at the screen as Darcy began his proposal.

'He was so not expecting that reaction- ha!'

'_Had_ _you behaved in a more gentleman-like manner_- wow harsh'

'_I had not known you a month before I felt you were the last man in the world I could ever marry!_ That was pretty cold. Poor Colin Firth, he looked so sad'

Gwen remained silent throughout his commentary, her mind too occupied in the unravelling of her own thoughts.

* * *

They ate their dinner of fish fingers and mash potato without much conversation and completed the washing up in silence. Arthur felt rather uncomfortable as he dried the plates and put them back in the

cupboard, feeling as though he had done something wrong, though having no idea what. _Perhaps it had been the box thing, or mentioning her mum, was she upset that he hadn't paused the video while she had _

_made the tea, was she annoyed that he hadn't help cook dinner, though she had insisted she was perfectly capable of doing it by herself and he had needed to call his dad's lawyer? _He racked his brains but did not

manage to come to a conclusion.

* * *

After dinner they watched the fourth instalment, then Gwen took a shower. It was half past ten when Gwen finished drying her hair, emerging from her room only to give Arthur a mumbled 'Goodnight.'

She read a few pages of her book before giving up, unable to focus on the words in front of her eyes. She threw it aside and switched off her bedside light as she crawled into bed, throwing herself into the

spinning darkness.


	5. Chapter 5

She finished sorting out her hair and threw on her cardigan as she entered the living room. Arthur was already at the table, eating his breakfast.

'Morning' he said with his mouth half full.

'Morning' she replied as she made up her usual bowl of cereal and sat down beside him.

'What time is your family getting here?'

'Bradley and Simon are getting here for about twelve to help with decorating and they are bringing a load of food.'

'And Bradley is...?'

'My eldest step-brother,'

'Can you tell me anything about him?'

'He's twenty and is studying Geography at Southampton'

'Okay' Arthur said trying to mentally note it down, 'what about the others?'

'Colin, the younger (though taller) step brother, eighteen and wants to study computer science at Queen Mary, he's a bit odd. There's James whose fourteen and is loud and obsessed with football and then

there's Morgan whose eleven, he's a sweet kid, really into reading and chess and stuff.'

'And your dad's called Tom right?'

'Yep and he's an electrician and my step mum, Martha, is a primary school teacher'

'Cool' he said, a little daunted.

'Don't worry; no one will expect you to know any of that'

'Okay' he said, shooting her a tentative smile, 'and what time are they getting here?'

'Half one'

'Cool'

* * *

They spent the rest of the morning cleaning the apartment, blowing up balloons and, at Arthur's insistence, making a banner. They were just finishing off the 'Y' of birthday when the door bell rang.

Gwen ran over to the door.

'Hey Gwen!' one of the guys said, just as she flung her arms around his neck.

'I haven't seen you in ages! How's Southie?' she said letting go of him.

'Awesome thanks' he grinned.

'Are you getting any work done?'

'Some' he said ruefully.

She laughed, 'well at least it's an improvement on last term'

'True'

'So how come you haven't come and visited me in forever?'

'I stayed over for the weekend last month' he objected.

'Oh well, it seems like forever, I'll missed you little bro' she said, reaching up to ruffle his hair. He might be the shorter of the two brothers but he was six foot so still considerably taller than his step sister.

Simon coughed deliberately.

'Sorry Simon' she said giving him a swift hug, 'and come on in'

'So how's work going?'

'Pretty good thanks, my boss is a pain in the arse, but apart from that-' he broke off, having spotted Arthur who was sitting at the table adding felt tip blue and yellow stars to the 'Y.'

'So you're the guy who picked up the phone'

It wasn't a question but Arthur nodded in agreement, a little uncertainly.

'Er who?' Bradley asked looking between the other three.

'This is Arthur' Gwen said brightly as Arthur stood up to shake both men's hands.

'Your boyfriend?' Bradley asked addressing Gwen as he took Arthur's hand.

'No, he's a friend who needed somewhere to stay, so I let him sleep on the sofa'

'But you're staying for Tom's birthday thing?' he asked Arthur now.

'Yeah sure'

He shot Arthur a suspicious look, but 'okay' was all he said.

There was an awkward silence.

'Well shall we finish putting up the decorations?' Gwen said.

The guys shrugged collectively and set about the task. As they pinned up the banner and balloons and put up the fairy lights Bradley and Simon began to interrogate Arthur, much to Gwen's embarrassment.

'So why did you need to stay with Gwen?'

'Erm-' he began.

'Plumbing problems' Gwen filled in.

Bradley raised a sceptical eyebrow and Simon snorted.

'So how do you know Gwen?' he asked sharply.

'I work with the sister company of the one Gwen works for and we bumped into each other at various functions and we both know Merlin which is why we started hanging out really' he replied, the half truth

coming easily to his lips.

Once he had responded to these reasonable questions the two men proceeded to ask him increasingly obscure and intimate ones, Simon even going as far as enquiring about the state of his mental well-being

and whether or not he had a criminal record before Gwen saved him.

'Me and Arthur are going to start cooking while you guys finish up in here, okay?'

They grumbled but Gwen swiftly shut the door on them.

'Sorry about that. I will talk to them'

'It's 'kay. I was a little taken aback by how protective of you they are'

'I'm the only girl, all of my relatives of this generation are blokes, with four brothers and six other cousins who are all guys. I guess they just feel like they need to look after me'

'It's nice, that you have so many people who care about you, I just wish they weren't trying to protect you from _me_, it's a rather uncomfortable experience.'

'Well if it helps, I think you got the worst ones out the way, except for Dad of course.'

'Great, so I have that to look forward too'

'Once he talks to you I'm sure he'll be fine, and I did give him advance warning that you'd be here, so it might not be too bad.'

* * *

'Ouch!' came Arthur's cry of pain. He had been midway through transferring the sausage rolls from the baking tray, using his bare hands and had caught his finger on the still burning hot tray.

He waved the throbbing hand frantically.

'Put it under the cold water' Gwen instructed.

He turned on the tap and placed his finger under the flow of the tap, but hastily pulled it out again.

'It hurts' he protested.

'Put it back under the tap'

'No'

'Do not be ridiculous' she said marching over to him, taking his hand in hers and thrusting it under the cold water. He winced and tried to withdraw his hand once more, but she remained firm. He relaxed after a

minute or so.

'And you wonder why footballers get a reputation for being wimps'

He scowled.

'Feeling any better?'

He smiled grudgingly, 'yes'

The door suddenly opened and she dropped his hand as if it were a burning coal.

'Now just leave it under there for ten minutes' she instructed in a business-like voice as Bradley and Simon eyed them suspiciously.

'Mum just called to say they are running a bit late because of traffic'

'Okay, thanks'

'And I'm leaving the kitchen door _open_' Simon said pointedly before they left.

Arthur and Gwen exchanged a look and grinned.

* * *

Half an hour later all of Gwen's family had arrived, making her already small apartment feel roughly the size of shoebox.

'Happy Birthday Dad!' Gwen cried as she hugged him before he had even made it through the front door.

'Thanks darling, and thank you for doing all of this' he said gesturing around the room at the balloons, the banner and the table which was heaving under the weight of all the food.

'It was no trouble, besides I had Simon, Bradley and Arthur to help me'

'So do I get to meet this boy?'

'He's actually in the kitchen making Gran a cup of tea at the moment, but I'm sure he'll come over once he's done.'

Just as she pronounced these words Arthur emerged from the kitchen chatting animatedly to her Gran. They both looked up and spotting Gwen and Tom they made their way over.

'Hi, I'm Arthur' he said offering Tom his hand.

'Tom' he replied, taking it.

'Many happy returns'

'I understand I have you to thank for all this'

'Oh no, Gwen did the lion's share of the work, and very lucky too, if I'd done it the food would have had to come with a hazard warning'

'Not a gourmet chef then?' Tom laughed.

'Definitely not' Arthur and Gwen said in unison grinning.

* * *

After they had all helped themselves to as much food as they could eat it was settled that they would go for a walk.

Despite Gwen's remonstrations Arthur was wearing his aviators again because her Gran had told him how very 'cool' he looked in them. Gwen was not sure that an eighty year old woman was the person to go

to for fashion tips but Arthur seemed to think so. She smiled as she watched him walking ahead with her brothers and Simon while she hung back with the older family members.

Once they reached the top of the common hill James ran back to them, his football clamped under his arm.

'Can we play Mum? Dad?'

'Sure' Tom grinned, ruffling the boy's brown curls.

Just as James returned to give the others the news Tom turned to Gwen, 'don't you want to join them?'

'I'm fine here with you guys' she smiled.

'_Guin-e-vere_!' Arthur called, running back down the path to them, 'we need you to make up the teams'

'You've got even numbers haven't you?'

'Morgan wants to take photos of the game, so we are one short'

'Er,' she turned questioningly to her father.

'Can I take her Tom?' Arthur asked over her head.

'Go for it' Tom grinned as Arthur slipped his hand into hers and dragged her straight down the hill, with her squealing and giggling the whole way down.

'What are you thinking?' Martha asked her husband as they sat down on a park bench overlooking the makeshift pitch.

'I like him'

'Me too' Gran piped up, 'he seems like a nice boy and she looks very happy doesn't she?'

'I agree'

'I haven't seen her this happy in a quite a while'

'And they would have beautiful children' Gran added with a grin.

'Hey!' Tom exclaimed, 'it's a bit too soon to be thinking about things like that Ma, she's says she's not even dating the boy'

'I'm sorry Tom' Martha said, watching Arthur making a bid for goal only to be thrown to the ground by a sliding tackle from Gwen, 'but I can't believe that'

* * *

'Owww!' moaned Arthur from the frozen ground, cradling his leg.

'Oh Arthur get up' Gwen said exasperatedly, taking his hands and pulling him to his feet.

'We did warn you that Gwen's got a mean tackle, but would you listen?' Colin said with a toothy grin.

'I did get a great picture of Arthur hitting the ground though' Morgan said brightly.

'Great' Arthur said scowling as Gwen smirked.

* * *

'Nearly time to guys!' shouted Tom from the bench.

'Next goal to win' shouted James.

Gwen tackled Bradley, and dribbled the ball down the flank, to be chased down by Arthur. They were closing in on the goal now and Gwen moved as if to strike, believing her dummy, Arthur lunged as Gwen

crossed the ball to the waiting Colin, who tucked it neatly into the goal.

Gwen ran over to Colin and gave him a high five.

'Awesome dummy there Gwen'

'Very nice positioning Col'

Arthur picked himself up off the ground once again and went to shake the winning team's hands.

'You were amazing Gwen' Morgan said snapping away on his camera.

'Man of the match' declared Simon patting Gwen on the back.

'Shame we don't have a trophy or anything to give you' Morgan said with a hangdog expression.

'You should get something from the losing team as a prize' Colin said with a grin.

'Okay,' Bradley agreed and the others nodded, 'your choice Gwen'

Gwen grinned, 'can I have Arthur's sunglasses?'

'Erm' he said patting his breast pocket protectively.

'Hand them over'

'You're not going to break them are you?' he asked, his brows knitted together in concern.

'No'

'You promise?' he said sulkily.

'Cross my heart, hope to die'

'Fine' he said, placing them in her outstretched hand.

She put them on with goofy grin, 'how do I look?' she said pouting for Morgan's camera.

'Ridiculous' Arthur muttered with a grin.

'Can I get a group photo?' Morgan asked brightly.

They all moved together, Gwen in the centre, Arthur to her right. She grinned at him, 'I think I look pretty cool.'

He took the glasses off her eyes and pushed them back into her hair, 'now you look cool' he said, his eyes wide and serious.

'Ready?' Morgan called.

Gwen and Arthur turned in unison to face the camera and smiled.

'Cheese!' they shouted together.

* * *

'Wow Colin, this is great' Tom said ripping open his present, 'um, but what is it?'

'It's a mouse mat with a gel wrist rest so that you don't cramp when you're using the computer'

'Thanks very much' he grinned, pulling his step son into a hug.

'And this one is from-' he looked at the gift tag, '-Arthur'

He tore off the wrapping paper.

'Our Lady Peace?' he asked, flipping the CD over.

'They are supposed to have a Led Zeppelin kind of sound' offered Arthur.

'Okay, sounds great, I really like Led Zeppelin,' he laughed, 'but I guess you probably already knew that'

'I did, yes,' he grinned.

'Thanks Arthur, you really didn't have to'

'Well I wanted to'

There was one present left on the table. 'So this one must be from Gwen' Tom said picking it up.

He pulled off the paper with more care than he had taken with the others, to reveal an A4 leather bound book. He undid the clasp carefully and turned to the first page.

There was an aged photography of a woman who was identifiable as Gwen's Gran, holding a baby Tom in her arms, a man which Arthur supposed must be Gwen's Grandfather, standing over them, a toddler

on his hip and immense pride in his eyes. Around the picture there were hand drawn patterns and underneath it was a caption.

'Ma, did you write this?' Tom said looking up, his voice a little choked.

'Yes' she said, her weathered cheeks creasing in a smile.

He flicked through the rest of the book. On each page was a photograph, a drawing or a newspaper cutting, each with its own caption, written by various family members and friends.

'Thanks Gwen' he said pulling her into a tight embrace, 'this is lovely'

'Well everyone else helped too' she said through the gap in his arms.

'Thanks everyone' he said, grudgingly letting go of his daughter.

'Time for a game of Articulate! I think' Gran announced.

'Um what's Articulate?' Arthur hissed to Gwen, rather apprehensive.

'It's a board game, you have to describe the word on the card to your team without using the word itself. You have to do as many as you can in thirty seconds. It's pretty straightforward in theory, a bit harder

in practise' she hissed back.

'Shall we do it in pairs?' suggested Simon.

'Shotgun I get Dad!' shouted James.

'I'll take Gran' beamed Colin.

'Arthur and Gwen have to go together' Morgan said brightly.

'Er' they said together.

'I agree' said Gran with a mischievous glint in her eyes.

'I'm sorry Arthur, I'm not great at this game'

'Well never mind, I'll probably be pants too.'

Arthur and Gwen went last so that he would have a chance to watch how the others did.

'You're on the nature category. Ready, steady, go' Simon said turning over the timer.

'It's small, green and-'

'A pea?' offered Arthur.

Gwen nodded and put down the card.

'It's got a red breast'

'Um'

'Bird you see at Christmas'

'A robin?'

'A frog with a tail'

'A newt?'

'A model, Kate...'

'Moss!'

'Out of time!' shouted Simon.

'Nice one Gwen' Arthur grinned, 'we did pretty well.'

'Four's not bad at all.'

* * *

They quickly got in to the swing of it and were soon in the lead.

'Arthur, you're doing random' Morgan said, passing him the box of cards, 'your time starts...now!'

'It's sharp and pointy'

'A needle'

'A place where soldiers sleep'

'Er'

'Sounds like Obama's first name'

'Barrack' she grinned.

'Not a sinner'

'A saint'

'You stick someone's head on this'

'A pike'

He laughed as he put down the card.

He paused for a second looking down at the next card.

'Mr McGregor's lettuce is _what_ to the rabbits? Makes them tired'

'Soporific?'

'Yes!'

'You're out of time' Colin said dazedly.

'How on earth did you get that?' exclaimed Tom.

'In Peter Rabbit the farmer's lettuce is soporific to the rabbits' explained Gwen as if it was the simplest thing in the world.

'You were amazing!' Arthur said with a wide smile, 'I never thought you'd get that in a million years, but it was the only way I could think to do it'

'Well it's lucky for you that our minds work in the same twisted way' she grinned, leaning back against him for a moment.

There was a click.

'Arthur, Gwen, you've nearly won' Colin said moving their piece around the board.

'Aww' Morgan said looking down at his camera, 'don't Gwen and Arthur look cute'

_So that's what the click had been._

The other's crowded around the camera.

'They do' Martha cooed.

'Gross' Simon said.

'Let's see' Gwen said going over to Morgan.

'You'll delete it' he protested.

'I will not'

'Okay' he said, showing her the screen, but not relinquishing his grip on it.

She looked at the picture on the screen, she and Arthur were sat on the floor, her legs crossed in front of her, his legs outstretched behind her. She was still wearing his aviators in her hair and was resting the

back of her head on his collar bone and both of them were wearing the exact same gentle smile of contentment.

She blushed.

'Is it really that bad?' Arthur asked as he saw the pink creep into her cheeks.

'No' she said hesitantly, 'it is sweet, and you were right, I do look cool with your sunglasses,'

'But not as cool as me' he teased her as she sat back down beside him.

Simon made a retching sound.

'It's our go Gran' Colin said picking up his first card.

Gwen breathed a sigh of relief, at least she had managed to deflect his attention, at least he had not seen the picture. _God, no wonder people thought they could be an item. What the hell was wrong with her? _

_She couldn't treat her employer's son like this, like a friend, like a...No she wouldn't even go there. He was an acquaintance, nothing more, just a casual acquaintance, that was all. He was Arthur Pendragon, she had to _

_remember that. He was a shameless flirt- that she already knew- it was in his nature to behave like this. Like what though? This wasn't just innocent flirty banter, he had wanted to meet her family, to make her dinner, _

_to know about her emotional baggage. Why? Maybe he just hadn't had many girl mates before, that was probably it. Maybe he was genuinely starting to look at her as a friend but didn't understand where the lines were. _

_That had to be it. He __**was **__Arthur Pendragon after all._

* * *

Once Arthur and Gwen had finished thrashing the others at Articulate! everyone had a slice of birthday cake which Tom claimed was 'very good' before laughingly adding, 'but didn't you help make it Arthur?'

'I did help' Arthur grinned, 'but Gwen did do most of it.'

'You're just being modest' Gwen's Gran said confidently.

'No I'm not' he laughed, 'the fact that you are all still standing shows how little input I had'

After everyone had eaten and the boys and Gwen had done the dishes and cleaned up most of the mess, Tom announced that they had to leave, 'we need to get off Gwen love, because traffic will be bad

getting across London and the boys have to get up for school tomorrow.'

'Of course' Gwen said hugging her Dad, before turning to Martha and the boys.

'Bye Col' she said as he grasped her tightly in his gangly arms, before he shook Arthur's hand.

'Bye Gwen' said James hugging her, 'bye Arthur' he said hugging him too.

'It was nice to meet you Arthur' Martha said as her son let go of him, and she planted a kiss on his cheek, 'thank you very much for helping Gwen with everything today.'

'It was no trouble' he grinned.

'I like your boyfriend Gwen' Morgan said grinning enthusiastically, 'and I'll e-mail you those photos'

'Arthur's not my boyfriend and thanks, that's very kind of you'

'Why isn't he your boyfriend?'

'Because he's not Morgan'

'But he's your friend and he _is_ a boy'

'I know, but he's not my _boyfriend'_

Unsatisfied with Gwen's answer he turned to Arthur, 'how come you're not Gwen's boyfriend?'

'Erm'

'She hasn't got another boyfriend has she?'

'No'

'And she's very pretty'

'Er yeah'

Morgan huffed exasperatedly, 'so why isn't she your girlfriend?'

'Time to go Morgan' his mum said, pushing him through the door. 'Sorry' she mouthed at Gwen and Arthur who waved away her apology in unison.

'Bye Gwen' her Gran said hugging her tightly, 'look after her Arthur' she said with a wink.

'Bye Arthur' Tom said shaking his hand, 'it was great to meet you and if you ever want to come over for lunch' he said, adding quickly, 'as Gwen's _friend_ I mean, you'd be very welcome.'

'Thanks very much, you're very kind.'

After they had left, Bradley and Simon quickly followed suit. Simon left the apartment with only a quick 'goodbye' to Gwen, Bradley remained a little longer.

'I'm sorry about interrogating you earlier mate, I was pretty out of line, but she's my big sister, I need to look out for her.'

'I totally understand'

'Well you seem like a good guy, so I don't have a problem with you'

'Um okay,' he replied a little uncertainly.

'I'm just saying I'm not going to make it hard for you, and neither is anyone else in the family. Well except for Simon, but he's a git to everyone' he shrugged.

'Thanks' he said his forehead creased with confusion.

'I'm sure I'll see you around soon'

'Erm okay'

Bradley pulled him into a hug.

'Bye mate'

'Bye'

'Bye Gwen'

'Bye Bradley, and get back to me about the 10th okay?'

'Will do' he said saluting to her as he shut the front door behind him.

* * *

_Author's note: thank you for the lovely comments guys, they have been very much appreciated, hope you enjoy the penultimate chapter x _


	6. Chapter 6

As the door snapped shut Gwen let out a sigh.

'I'm really sorry Arthur'

'For what?' he asked nonplussed.

'For all the couple talk, they just get a little over excited every time there's a new guy in my life'

'It's cool, I liked them a lot'

'Well they really liked you too, my brother's didn't even take to Merlin that quickly'

He grinned, 'maybe it's just my dazzling charm'

She snorted, 'or maybe it's your exceptional cooking talent'

'Ha Ha- very droll Guinevere'

'So do you want to watch the rest of Pride and Prejudice, we have episode five and six still left to go and you're leaving tomorrow'

'Oh yeah' he said remembering and was shocked to find that an icy rock of disappointment slipped into his stomach. He had totally forgotten that Merlin would be here to pick him up the next day as Freya was

flying back to the States early in the morning.

'Pride and Prejudice sounds good' he beamed to cover this totally ridiculous feeling of discontent which was swelling inside him.

They settled down on the sofa together with a bottle of wine. Arthur sat in his usual seat at the right end of the sofa, a seat which Gwen would struggle not to view as his in the future, and Gwen sat beside

him, her legs curled under her, a cushion on her lap.

Arthur continued his usual commentary until Gwen suddenly hushed him, a serious look on her face. Arthur watched with bemusement as Colin Firth removed his jacket, then his cravat, then his waistcoat.

'Oh' he whispered, 'is this the famous lake scene?'

'Sssshhh' she hissed, daggers in her eyes.

'I guess so' he said as Darcy jumped into the water.

'Oh my god, she's totally gawping at him' he said 'hey! And so are you'

She smacked him in the face with the cushion.

She pressed the pause button.

'Arthur' she said rounding on him, 'you just ruined one of television's greatest moments'

'What?' he exclaimed, 'how was that anything special?'

'Do you know nothing?'

'Evidently not'

'That is one of the sexiest moments in broadcasting history'

'No way!'

'Yes way! And we are going to go back and watch it again _and _you are going to be silent'

'Fine'

This time he tried to watch it with a more critical eye.

Once the damp Darcy had left the screen he said 'I still don't get it'

'Well the majority of the female population does' she said with a grin.

He spent the rest of the episode with only half his mind on the progression of the story, the other half remained on the lake scene and what exactly it was about it that Gwen found quite so alluring.

Then the titles were rolling and his frustration surfaced, 'so you like those tall dark and handsome guys do you?'

'Doesn't everyone?'

'You _just_ like the tall dark and handsome ones?' he asked, not quite sure why this was bothering him so much.

'I don't really have a type'

'But your last boyfriend was that type'

'I guess, but I've dated a lot of different guys' _oh yeah, like that was supposed to make him feel better. _He didn't know why this was working him up, but it was. It wasn't as if he was jealous of a character off the

TV, _or was he? True he hadn't really appreciated her staring at Darcy as if her eyes were glued to the bloody screen, but that didn't mean he was jealous, right? _

'So what is it about the lake scene that does it for you?'

She paused, thinking for a moment, 'I don't really know, he's just got this intense, romantic hero thing going on and the whole wet shirt thing just seems to highlight the hotness, I don't know why'

'Intense, romantic hero thing?'

'Yeah'

'Do you reckon I could pull that off?'

She giggled, but at Arthur's expectant look she said, 'that wasn't a serious question was it?'

'Yes'

'Well I don't know, I'm not sure how you go about judging these things' she shrugged.

'Arthur where are you going?' she said as he left the sofa, 'you're not upset are you?'

He shut the bathroom door behind him.

She followed him and knocked on the door, 'Arthur?'

Then the shower turned on. _He wasn't- No he couldn't possibly be-_

The door opened.

Her jaw dropped, _he had_.

He stood there in his wet jeans, his white shirt, plastered to his skin, hinting at the muscular torso beneath it, his hair was darkened nearly to brown by the water and was stuck to his forehead, somehow

making his eyes wider and a brighter blue.

Her mouth went dry.

'So can I pull it off?' he laughed nervously.

She stared at him blankly.

_I must look ridiculous, _he thought bitterly, _what had he been playing at, he was __**Arthur Pendragon**__, he didn't do things like this and now she was looking at him like he was crazy. _He turned to make a hasty retreat

back to the bathroom but her hand caught his arm.

'You can pull it off' she said with a smile, 'but you've got a few too many buttons done up for it to be really effective'

She undid two more buttons and spread open his collar, 'there you go, now you could rival Colin Firth for hottest damp male' she laughed.

He didn't laugh.

She slowly raised her eyes to his face, her heart pounding fit to burst.

Their gaze locked.

A pause of a heartbeat.

His eyes flickered almost imperceptibly to her lips and then he was bending down, pressing his lips to hers in a chaste kiss. Time seemed to stand still, and then he was pulling away, her lips followed him and

she opened her eyes.

'I'm sorry Guinevere' he said his eyes wide with concern as he chewed his lip, 'I shouldn't have done-'

But his words were cut off but her mouth on his. Taken by surprise as he was, he backed against the wall. Her hands slipped into his wet hair, as he slid his around her waist. He leaned into her deepening the

kiss. And now she was pulling away.

She turned from him, clapping a hand to her mouth.

'Gwen?' he said uncertainly.

'Oh God Arthur I'm sorry, I shouldn't have-' she broke off, 'you are my employer's son, you are Merlin's boss'

'Okay?'

'You are _Arthur Pendragon' _she said, turning to face him once more.

'But I'm also just plain old boring Arthur, the guy who can't cook and is crashing on your sofa' he smiled, tucking a curl behind her ear.

'You could never be plain or boring' she said faintly, her heart pounding like a hammer on an anvil.

'Oh really?' he breathed into her ear, sending a shiver down her spine.

She turned her head to look up at him. She pushed herself up on her toes, 'really' she confirmed, the word brushing against his lips. He couldn't help himself, in half a second his lips were on hers again, all

reason pushed aside. The kiss was hungry this time, as his hands went to her neck, her jaw, her hair. She caressed his chest through his wet shirt and she could feel the pounding of his heart under her

hands. His hands moved once again to her waist and ran one hand lazily up her side, just brushing her breast. Now his kisses were on her jaw line, her neck, her collar bone. She shuddered as he sent

shockwaves of pleasure through her.

'Arthur' she breathed in a low voice.

He stopped what he had been doing, pulling away from her to look at her full in the face. His dark, serious eyes searched her own.

'Guinevere?' he asked, his brow furrowed with worry.

Logic had left her, reason had vanished in a puff of smoke so she surrendered herself to her clamouring heart. She took him by the hand and led him into her room.

His eyes sought hers as she unbuttoned the rest of his shirt and slowly pushed it off him, before her hands began to explore the contours of his torso, their gazes locked all the while.

'Are you sure about this?' he whispered in spite of his body's pleading for him to remain silent.

Her response came in the form of her wrapping her arms tightly around his neck, pressing every possible inch of her body to his, kissing him with a fierce intensity which he reciprocated with great enthusiasm

as he pushed the bedroom door shut behind them.

* * *

She woke feeling rather warm and very well rested. It was a moment before she realised she was in nothing more than her bra and knickers and there was a strong, muscular arm around her. _Oh God! _She

thought as reality crashed down about her ears. She looked first at the arm wrapped around her, then to its owner. His eyes were shut, his fair eyelashes fluttering slightly. His breathing was regular and

deep. He was lying on his side and Gwen wondered whether or not his sleeping position was responsible for the absence of his usual snoring. His hair was back to its usual blonde and lay haphazardly on the

pillow. _What had she done? She had slept with Arthur Pendragon. Of all people. What had she been thinking? The honest answer: not a lot. _

She moved Arthur's arm and slid out of bed, silently thanking God that he was a heavy sleeper.

She picked up the clothes which had been thrown without a care to the floor the night before, including Arthur's still damp jeans and shirt which she placed on the radiator to dry. She then pulled on a hoody

and crossed the living room to the bathroom, jumping straight into the shower. As the water began to fall it mingled with the angry tears which were forming in her eyes. _How could she have been so stupid? She _

_was Gwen, the girl who had serious boyfriends, not flings, not one night stands with men like Arthur Pendragon. That was another girl, it had to be. She was furious with herself, how could she have allowed herself to _

_become just another notch on his bedpost? She could not understand it, how could she, sensible, responsible Guinevere have let this happen? Let alone initiated it. She felt sick as she remembered how it had started, _

_how he had been so tentative, every bit the gentleman, yes he had kissed her first, but she had been the one to push it further. Yes it had been good. Okay,_ she amended _**very**__ good, but that didn't make her feel any _

_better. It still wasn't her. It repulsed her that her body had taken control and had silenced all reason and judgement. What was this feeling which was clenched like a vice clenched around her heart, making her feel as if _

_she was falling away from the Earth's gravity and into a darkness she did not know or understand? _

She wiped her eyes as she stepped out of the shower. She was crying over a boy, how pathetic, a boy she barely even knew, doubly pathetic. She pulled herself together as she wrapped a towel around

herself, she was a grown woman, she would just have to get over it. She took a deep breath and made her way back into her room to collect all the bits and pieces she needed as quietly as possible.

She dried her hair in the bathroom, the room furthest from the bedroom and the sleeping Arthur. She thanked her lucky stars that he didn't stir for she was not sure she could have dealt with him.

Feeling it would be a little cold to leave without saying a word to him, given he would probably be gone long before she got back from work, she took the coward's way out.

_Arthur,_

_Sorry I didn't say goodbye, had to go to work, didn't want to wake you. Again feel free to do whatever you want before Merlin comes over. When you leave would you mind locking up with the spare keys (they are in the _

_dish on the table by the door) then posting them through the letter box, it would be greatly appreciated. Hope you have a nice day,_

_Gwen xx_

She poked her head into the bedroom one more time before she left. Arthur had rolled over onto his back with the whole bed to himself and was snoring loudly. She couldn't help a half smile coming to her lips.

Then her face fell as she remembered as this would probably be the last time she would see him until the Pendragon Group mixer next month. _Well, _she thought wryly, _he should at least remember her name, _

_having breathed it into her ear enough times during the course of the previous night._

* * *

He shivered when he awoke and looked about him. He was alone. He glanced over at the clock, it was half nine, Gwen would already be at work. He rolled out of bed and spotted his jeans and shirt on the

radiator and he smiled. He pulled on a hoody to cross the living room and got straight into the shower. He leant back into the flow of water, allowing it to splash him straight in the face as he tried to wrestle

the goofy smile from his lips.

Try as he might he could not keep his mind focused and as a consequence ended with a good deal of shampoo in his eye. But even as he nursed his watering eye he could not stop his mind drifting back to the

previous night. The feel of her under his hands. The feel of her bare skin on his. The taste of her. The sound of her shallow breaths in his ear. The smell of her. The overwhelming presence of her. _It had been _

_great. Okay, _he amended, _it had been fantastic. _

His wiped his weeping eye as he got out of the shower. It was just a bit of soap. _But it didn't half cane_ he thought bitterly.

He pulled on some clothes and made breakfast. As he ate his cornflakes he spotted a piece of note paper with Gwen's handwriting on it. He read it several times, smiling at the two 'x's at the bottom. He noted

how the first was drawn casually but with confidence, he could almost see her as she contemplated the second, as she marked the paper with a tentative but precise cross.

He stashed this second note, along with the first in his jacket pocket.

* * *

He was just washing up his breakfast dishes when the doorbell rang.

Merlin was standing on the door mat.

'Time to go' he said, beaming, 'bet you're glad to see me'

'Not really' he teased him, though the sentiment was real.

'Well grab your stuff and we'll get going'

'I should dry my dishes' he said.

Merlin's eyebrows twitched in confusion. _There was something not quite right about that._

'I'll go grab your bag while you're doing that' Merlin offered, 'where is it?'

Before he could stop himself he said, 'in Gwen's room'

'Why is it in Gwen's room?'

'It was somewhere to put it so it was out of the way of her family yesterday' he said lamely.

'Okay' Merlin said a little suspicious, _there was something up, Arthur had barely stopped smiling since he had arrived and he was voluntarily doing chores, had the world been turned on it's head?_

Merlin pushed these thoughts to one side, _he was probably just overreacting. _ He went into the bedroom, the bed was made, though rather haphazardly, not the way Gwen would have left it. He picked up

Arthur's bag and went to leave. He spotted Arthur's jacket slung over a chair and grabbed that too. As he reached the door a piece of paper slid from the pocket of his jacket and fell gracefully through the air,

finally coming to rest in the wastepaper bin.

He retrieved it and it was a moment before he noticed the rest of the contents of bin. A rolled up magazine, some screwed up sheets of paper, a couple of tissues and an empty condom wrapper. His mind went

blank.

* * *

'Hey Merlin, let me just write a note to Gwen then I'll be-' he broke off as Merlin pushed him up against the wall, pinioning him there.

'Merlin?'

'You promised you wouldn't do anything!'

'I didn't'

'You had sex with her!'

'Yes I did' he said, seeing little point in lying.

Merlin hit him hard in the face.

'Ow!'

'Screw you Arthur!' he said letting him go, and starting to pace, 'Screw you'

'Merlin?' he asked, massaging his jaw.

'Don't!' he spat bitterly, angry tears in his eyes.

'What?'

'And all I asked of you was that you left her out of whatever stunt you were planning on pulling, and you couldn't even do that. I can't believe I counted you as a friend, I should never have trusted you.'

'Merlin, Gwen and I are both adults'

'Don't make me hit you again' he breathed fiercely.

'I don't understand'

'Gwen is like a sister to me and I was there for her through the whole Lancelot fiasco. She was fine. And then you had to come along and fuck it up.'

'Merlin, I-'

'Gwen isn't some girl you picked up in a bar, she is my best friend'

'I know'

'And you know you've got to tell her the truth'

'The truth?'

'I know Gwen's a smart girl and will have worked it out most probably, she's does know your reputation after all, but you have to be completely honest with her, tell her how things are'

'What are you talking about?'

'You have to tell her that you're the biggest piece of shit on the planet and that you are really sorry, but that it didn't mean anything'

'Didn't mean anything?' he asked, his tone now very serious.

'Yeah' Merlin said, a little hesitantly.

'And you say that's what Gwen will be thinking?' he asked quickly.

'Yeah, well like I said, she knows what you're like'

'What I'm like?'

'That you get around a bit'

'So you're telling me that you think Guinevere thinks last night was just a one night stand?' he enquired frantically.

'Most probably'

Arthur began pacing back and forth, running his hands through his hair.

'I don't get it' Merlin said, his anger gone now, replaced by confusion, 'shouldn't you be happy about this? It makes it easier for you to get out of this'

'And who said I wanted to get out of anything?'

'Are you saying that last night with Gwen meant _something?' _Merlin asked his eyes wide with incredulity.

'Eureka! I think the boy has got it' he said with a grin.

'You're actually serious'

'Yes'

'Well this is fantastic!'

'Hang on, you're okay with this?'

'Of course, this is brilliant'

'But you were so angry before'

'That's when I thought you had just had meaningless sex with my best friend, of course I was mad, but this, two of my best friends getting together, well I think that's great!' he beamed, before his face

darkened suddenly, 'though you hurt her and I will totally kick your butt'

'You would have to dig me up first because her family would have killed me' he grinned.

Merlin grinned too, 'so was Gwen surprised when you told her you wanted more than just a one time thing?'

'I haven't told her yet'

'What?' Merlin exclaimed.

'She left before I woke up.'

'So she still thinks that it didn't mean a thing to you?'

'Maybe, I guess, though I thought I'd made it pretty clear how I felt.'

'Did you tell her though?'

'No'

'Then go tell her!'

'Now?'

'Yes now. What are you waiting for? Christmas?'

Arthur pulled on his trainers, threw on his jacket and grabbed his sunglasses off the coffee table where Gwen had left them the night before.

'Go! Go! Go!' shouted Merlin, practically bouncing up and down with excitement.

'Could you take my stuff back to yours, I'll meet you there, then you can fill me in on your romantic weekend with Freya' he said with a wink.

'Go!'

* * *

'You're back!' Gwen said running into her friend's arms.

'Yeah I am!'

'How was Dubai?'

'Too hot, but the meetings went really well, so I can't really complain. More importantly, how was Arthur? Is he still alive?'

'He's still alive' she said, her voice hollow.

'And he didn't drive you too crazy?'

'Oh he drove me crazy alright' she said with a half smile.

She was not sure why she was not being entirely honest with Morgana, she was her friend after all. But she was also Arthur's sister and Gwen was pretty sure that somewhere in the girl code there was a rule

about not sleeping with your friends' brothers, it felt like a kind of betrayal. She was also sure that Morgana would take Gwen's side in a heartbeat, blaming the whole thing on Arthur, something Gwen was not

sure she could take, feeling that she ought to shoulder the majority of the responsibility for what had occurred between them.

The two of them talked over the buyers' meeting and the outcome of the talks in Dubai over tea and coffee in Morgana's office.

They were in the middle of a serious discussion on how serious an impact Uther's arrest would have on stock prices when the phone rang. Morgana picked it up quickly, 'send him in Clara'

'Who-' Gwen began.

Arthur stood in the doorway.

* * *

He had taken the tube across London and had been delayed by an accidental detour when he had taken the Victoria line south rather than north, as he had been too wrapped up in his own thoughts to pay

much attention to the underground map. He had then walked at a brisk pace over to the Wesley Road building which was fortunately slightly separate from the main Pendragon Group complex, being just

around the corner, but far enough away to ensure that no members of the paparazzi were lurking. He pushed open the glass doors and took off his sunglasses as he entered the dark atrium. He crossed to

lifts and pushed the 'up' button.

After half a minute the lift _pinged _and doors opened.

He and a young, mousy-looking woman entered. He felt the eyes of several of the lift's other occupants on him. He fiddled with the cuff of his jacket nervously.

The lift stopped on the first floor and all but one of the people in the lift left it.

He went to push the button for Level 4 but the mousy-looking woman got there first, pressing the button for the Basement. She looked in horror at what she had done.

'I'm so sorry sir' she gushed, 'I'm so very sorry'

'Don't worry about it' he grinned, the same goofy grin he seemed to have been wearing all morning, 'it's just a casual call anyway'

'Thank you sir'

'Call me Arthur,'

'Arthur' she smiled timidly.

* * *

Arthur strode purposefully over to the reception for the floor.

'Hi, I'm here to see Guinevere Leodegrance'

The receptionist did not even look up from her computer screen, 'you mean Gwen?'

'Yes'

'Is this a social call?'

'I suppose'

'She's in a meeting with Morgana at the moment. But if you would like to take a seat over there' she said gesturing vaguely in the direction of some comfy looking leather chairs by the lifts, 'I'll let her know

you're waiting. Can I take a name?' she asked, her eyes still fixed on the screen in front of her.

'Arthur'

'Arthur who?'

'She will know'

'Look, all I want is a surname' she said looking up from her screen for the first time, 'oh' was all she could manage.

'I'll just sit over there' he smiled.

'I'm so very sorry sir, I will give Morgana a call and see if she's happy to see you'

'Oh no, I'm happy to wait, I'll just-' he began, but she had already picked up the phone and was dialling a number.

'She'll see you now' the woman smiled, 'sorry again, Mr Pendragon, sir.'

'No problem, and thanks very much for your assistance.'

He walked down the corridor, his heart in his mouth, pounding sickeningly fast against his tongue. He had never been one for nerves, not before exams, or football games, or asking out girls. But somehow she

turned his legs to jelly, turned his stomach inside out and made his head spin. He pushed open the door.

* * *

'Who-' she began, but stopped once she saw it was him. Her mouth fell open a little.

'Hi' he said, his eyes focused on Gwen.

'Hi' she replied looking at the carpet.

'Hi' said Morgana, trying to remind Arthur that she was in the room.

'Hi' he said vaguely, still staring at Gwen, willing her to raise her eyes to his face.

_Okay, _Morgana thought, watching the behaviour of her best friend and brother, _she was defiantly missing something and she was one hundred percent sure that whatever it was had something to do with Arthur's _

_sudden desire to cook._

'Gwen we were pretty much done here, and I really need to give Uther's lawyers a call, so if you don't mind could you and Arthur go to your office please?'

'Sure' Gwen said, her voice a little thin.

* * *

He followed her down the corridor to her office. _She was going to be sick_ she was sure of it, _she felt like she should be on board a ship in the middle of a storm before her stomach churned like this. What was he _

_doing here? She couldn't deal with this. But it didn't look as if she was going to have much of a choice. _

She opened the door and led him in, walking behind her desk, so that the big chunk of furniture was between them. Somehow it made her feel a little safer.

She began to sort through some papers on her desk, purely to give her shaking hands something to do.

'Guinevere?'

'Yes' she said looking at the floor.

'We need to talk about what happened last night'

'I don't think we do, you were feeling vulnerable because of what has been going on with your dad, it was a one time thing, it didn't mean anything'

'Is that really what you believe?'

She didn't reply, eyes still on the carpet.

'Is that what you thought last night?'

'I don't know'

'Did you only do it because you thought it would just be a one night stand? Was that part of your decision making process?'

She let out a harsh laugh, 'decision making process? You think that last night had anything to do with rational choice?'

'Do you regret it?'

'Arthur just don't!' she said looking up at him, jaw set in an angry line, 'don't make me say it, this isn't fair. I'm telling you that I understand, I don't blame you, we can just forget this ever happened, that any of

this ever happened and we can go back to being vague acquaintances'

'Is that what you want?' he said coming around the desk to join her.

'It doesn't matter what I want' she said staring at the carpet.

'I'm inclined to disagree, but I will let it lie for the moment, I will tell you what I don't want. I don't want to forget it, any of it, I don't want to go back to being two people who know each other vaguely from

work, frankly I don't think I could. I don't want it to have meant nothing, I don't want it to be a one time thing. But if that is what you want, I will leave you alone and will respect your decision.'

She raised her eyes slowly to his face. They shone with the embryos of tears but she held them back with a will of iron.

'Are you serious?' she said in a hollow voice.

'_Guin-e-vere'_ he drawled with a mischievous grin. The sound of his voice caressing her name, just as it had the night before, sent a shiver through her spine.

She couldn't help smiling too, 'so what is it that you propose?' she said teasingly.

'A date, this Friday? And taking it slow'

'Isn't it a bit late for that?' she grinned as images from the previous night floated irresistibly to the surface of her mind.

'I still think it's worth a try' he said his eyes wide and strangely innocent, 'I want to do this right'

'Well so far I think you're doing very well' she said linking her arms around his neck and forcing him to sit down on the desk, her in between his legs. She kissed the corner of his mouth.

He turned to try and capture her lips but she moved to quickly for him.

'Tut-tut' she said wagging a finger, 'what happened to going slow?' she said pressing a finger to his lips with a wicked glint in her brown eyes, _this was going to be fun._

'You're a cruel woman' he said as she began to run a lazy finger up and down his thigh, placing tender kiss after tender kiss along his jaw. Both totally absorbed, neither noticed a gentle knock at the door.

'Oh' came the voice from the doorway.

Gwen and Arthur flew apart, turning with flushed cheeks to the intruder.

'Lancelot?' Gwen breathed.

'You're supposed to be in China!'

'Well I came back' he said, looking at Gwen, holding the large bouquet limply in one hand as the words _'for you'_ hung in the air, as solid and immovable as granite.

Gwen looked between them, Arthur pale with anger, Lancelot pink with embarrassment. _Oh God! What was she going to do?_

-END-

* * *

_Author's note: Hoped you enjoyed the final chapter (though I will write a sequel- it has been decided) sorry for the length of this chapter, it is a lot longer than normal. Thanks for the lovely reviews as always, you guys have been so very kind xx_


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